Broward County Sheriff's Office v. Williams, AK-297
| Decision Date | 04 May 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. AK-297,AK-297 |
| Parties | BROWARD COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE, Broward County Board of County Commissioners, Appellants, v. Wesley A. WILLIAMS and Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Robert E. Huebner of Huebner, Murray & Fulton, Fort Lauderdale, for appellants.
Walter G. Campbell, Jr. of Krupnick & Campbell, Fort Lauderdale, and Richard A. Barnett, Hollywood, for appellee Wesley A. Williams.
Susan J. Silverman of Marlow, Shofi, Ortmayer, Smith, Connell & Valerius, Miami, for appellee Florida Ins. Guaranty Ass'n.
The employer brings this appeal from a compensation order awarding, inter alia, permanent total disability benefits. We reverse.
While acting in the course of his employment as a deputy sheriff, the claimant sustained serious neck and back injuries as a result of accidents occurring on January 27, 1977, August 30, 1979, and May 14, 1980. At hearings conducted on August 11, 1981, and December 14, 1981, claimant adduced competent substantial evidence concerning his disability, including evidence that he has a 30% anatomic permanent impairment of the body as a whole. However, during the August 11 hearing, the employer asserted that it was ready and willing to reemploy claimant in the civil division of the sheriff's office or as a bailiff, if claimant could pass a physical examination for those positions. Upon learning of the employer's tentative offer to reemploy claimant, the deputy continued the hearing in order to allow claimant to take the pre-employment physical examination and to attempt working as a bailiff. The physician who subsequently conducted the pre-employment physical examination, and who had been apprised of the duties of a bailiff, found claimant "eminently qualified" to handle such light duty work.
When the hearing reconvened on December 14, the employer adduced evidence that it had twice instructed claimant to report for duty as a civil court bailiff, but that claimant had failed to do so. The claimant acknowledged that he had made no effort to perform the bailiff's job. Although claimant testified at the initial hearing that he was familiar with the duties of civil deputies and of bailiffs in the criminal courts, and that he would be unable to handle such work due to the possibility of becoming involved in physical altercations, we are unable to find any competent substantial evidence in the record that claimant...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Liggon
...apprehension about doing it. As such, there is no adequate basis for the PTD finding."); see also Broward County Sheriff's Office v. Williams, 430 So.2d 968, 969 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). BARFIELD, J., concurs. ZEHMER, C.J., concurs and dissents with written opinion. ZEHMER, Chief Judge (concurr......
-
Shaw v. Publix Supermarkets, Inc.
...the case sub judice from U.S. Foundry & Manuf. Co. v. Serpa, 564 So.2d 559, 561 (Fla. 1st DCA1990) and Broward County Sheriff's Off. v. Williams, 430 So.2d 968 (Fla. 1st DCA1983). E/C contend the light-duty working conditions were arranged to assist Claimant's recovery, but not because any ......
-
U.S. Foundry & Mfg. Co. v. Serpa
...JCC in the instant case was not claimant's entitlement to rehabilitation benefits but whether he was PTD. Broward County Sheriff's Office v. Williams, 430 So.2d 968 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983) is similar to the instant case and guides our decision here. In that case the claimant was a deputy sherif......
-
Perez v. Florida Export Tobacco Co.
...compatible with claimant's physical limitations. These facts serve to distinguish the instant case from Broward County Sheriff's Office v. Williams, 430 So.2d 968 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983) in which this court reversed a PTD finding and required the claimant to make a good faith effort to do the c......