Blackburn Home Improvements v. Lebel, AE-352
| Decision Date | 29 April 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. AE-352,AE-352 |
| Parties | BLACKBURN HOME IMPROVEMENTS and Liberty Mutual Ins. Co., Appellants, v. Elude LEBEL, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Robert W. Elton, of Smalbein, Eubank, Johnson, Rosier & Bussey, Daytona Beach, for appellants.
Edward H. Hurt, of Hurt & Parrish, and Bill McCabe, of Shepherd, McCabe & Cooley, Orlando, for appellee.
Employer/carrier appeal a workers' compensation order which we affirm except as to the determination that employer/carrier is responsible for payment of claimant's attorney's fees. Section 440.34(2)(b), Florida Statutes (1979), provides for the assessment of such a fee in cases "where the deputy commissioner issues an order finding that a carrier has acted in bad faith ...." In the present case the deputy has made no express finding of "bad faith," and the order does not otherwise indicate whether the attorney's fee award was predicated on such a conclusion. Section 440.34(2)(a) and (c) establish other instances where an employer/carrier is responsible for a claimant's attorney's fee; however, the present case does not involve the application of these provisions. We therefore remand this cause for the deputy to indicate whether the attorney's fee award was predicated upon a finding of "bad faith."
The order appealed is affirmed in part and the cause is remanded.
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Westinghouse Elec. v. Widlan
...An award of attorney's fees must have a statutory basis or be based on an agreement between the parties. See Blackburn Home Improvements v. Lebel, 414 So.2d 12 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). The statute on which the JCC based the award of Claimant's attorney's fees provides in pertinent did not meet ......