Recent anti-worker decisions by Florida courts deserve the Legislature’s attention. It seemed like a good deal long ago when workers gave up their right to sue employers in exchange for a no-fault insurance system for injuries and deaths that occurred on the job. Judges who favor big business and insurance companies have used one excuse after another to protect them while leaving the injured and their families without justice.
Miscarriages of justice
In recent years, the First DCA denied benefits to an Alachua County jail deputy who suffered a heart attack because he hadn’t taken a second employment physical, yet his supervisors never required one. It also denied benefits in the cases of two workers who had contracted a rare meningitis known to be caused by fungi they likely contracted on the job. One employee had cleared property for the City of Titusville, while the other was a groundskeeper with Indian River County. They came home from work one day covered with dust from bird droppings, a known medium for the fungi, but the likely contaminated sites had long been cleaned up when the workers fell ill. Yet the court said the employees could not prove how and where they got sick. The reason being is that the evidence required to prove such a connection is virtually impossible.
Damaging consequences
These outcomes do serious and irrational damage to other potential victims involved in the workers’ compensation system. To make matters worse, they are not allowed to sue their employers directly under a personal injury theory due to the concept of workers’ compensation immunity. In fact, in one recent decision, the court said an employee must show an assailant’s work-related motive for a violent act in order for the event to be covered under the law. Nothing however is supposed to matter but where the injury occurred, not why! So where does that leave us? Injured workers may be left without a legal remedy if they suffer and industrial accident.
It is always best to consult with a Coral Springs after a workplace accident immediately. Although one’s rights may be limited under the Florida Workers’ Compensation Act, talk to Evan M. Ostfeld, Esquire who is an experienced Coral Springs Workers’ Compensation lawyer. He has over 30 years of knowledge in this complicated area of law. Our Coral Springs Workers’ Compensation and Personal Injury law firm provides a free case review. There are no attorney’s fees and costs unless there is a settlement or court award. Call us today at
(866) I SUE YOU, (954) 227-7529, (954) 998-0075 Text or evan@attorney4life.com to learn about your rights. We are always here to help!
