Bryant v. David Lawrence Mental Health Center

Decision Date26 April 1996
Docket NumberNo. 95-1411,95-1411
Citation672 So.2d 629
Parties21 Fla. L. Weekly D1014 Andrea BRYANT, Appellant, v. DAVID LAWRENCE MENTAL HEALTH CENTER and Florida Workers' Compensation Fund, Appellees.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

An appeal from an order of the Judge of Compensation Claims; Dan F. Turnbull, Jr., Judge.

Mark N. Tipton, Ocala, for Appellant.

Nancy A. Lauten of Fowler, White, Gillen, Boggs, Villareal & Banker, P.A., Tampa, for Appellees.

DAVIS, Judge.

The claimant, Andrea Bryant, suffered a knee injury while engaged in the duties of her job on the premises of her employer. The Judge of Compensation Claims ruled that the injury was idiopathic and not compensable because the claimant failed to prove that her employment involved an exertion greater than that performed during her daily life. Because we hold that the Judge of Compensation Claims applied the wrong test for determining compensability, we reverse.

Claimant was employed as a housekeeper at David Lawrence Mental Health Center for approximately three years before she was injured. On January 27, 1993, she squatted to lift a bag of laundry off the floor of the laundry room and felt immediate pain in her right knee. She sustained a tear of the lateral meniscus in that knee. There is no dispute that the claimant was on the employer's premises and performing one of her job duties when injured. In denying compensability, the Judge of Compensation Claims found that the claimant did not fall, twist, lose her balance or experience any other unusual movement. He found that her injury was idiopathic and did not arise out of the claimant's employment because her employment did not expose her to any greater risk than she experiences in her everyday life and to which the population as a whole is exposed.

To be compensable, an injury must "arise out of" one's employment and must occur "in the course and scope of" that employment. Strother v. Morrison Cafeteria, 383 So.2d 623, 624 (Fla.1980). The employer and carrier in this case have conceded that the injury to the claimant occurred in the course and scope of her employment, while performing her job duties on the employer's premises. The dispute here is whether the injury "arose out of" the claimant's employment.

The employer and carrier assert that the Judge of Compensation Claims was correct to deny compensability because a condition is only considered to arise out of one's employment when the employment necessarily exposes claimant to conditions that would substantially contribute to the risk of injury and to which the claimant would not normally be exposed during his non-employment life. However, the employer and carrier rely upon cases in which the court held that injuries which were the result of a condition personal to the claimant were not compensable unless aggravated by the employment. See, e.g., Leon County School Board v. Grimes, 548 So.2d 205, 207 (Fla.1989); Acker v. Charles R. Burklew Const., 654 So.2d 1211, 1212 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995); Grenon v. City of Palm Harbor Fire District, 634 So.2d 697, 699 (Fla. 1st DCA), review denied mem., 649 So.2d 233 (Fla.1994). That argument is misplaced, because each of those cases is factually distinguishable from the instant case, and the crucial factual differences affect the applicable test for compensability.

An unexpected injury sustained during the ordinary performance of one's duties in the usual manner is a compensable accident; it is not necessary for the claimant to demonstrate that there was a slip, fall or other mishap. Gray v. Employers Mut. Liability Ins. Co., 64 So.2d 650, 651 (Fla.1953). This definition of "accident" includes an internal failure such as a ruptured disc or a snapped knee cap. Victor Wine & Liquor, Inc. v. Beasley, 141 So.2d 581, 588 (Fla.1961). To establish that her accident arose out of, and occurred in the course and scope of, her employment, it was sufficient for the claimant to prove that her injury occurred in the period of her employment, at a place where she would reasonably be, while fulfilling her duties. Hillsborough County School Board v. Williams, 565 So.2d 852, 853-54 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990); Cooper v. Stephens, 470 So.2d 852, 854 (Fla. 1st DCA); petition for review denied mem., 480 So.2d 1296 (Fla.1985). The "arising out of" prong of this test is satisfied by evidence that the injury originated in some work connected with the employment. See Baker v. Orange County Board of County Commissioners, 399 So.2d 400, 401 (Fla. 1st DCA), petition for review denied mem., 411 So.2d 383 (Fla.1981). "That is, the claimant must show that his injury can be attributed to some event or circumstances connected with his work." Monette v. Manatee Memorial Hospital, 579 So.2d 195, 196 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991). This the claimant has done, by producing evidence that she was squatting to pick up a bag of laundry, performing one of her job duties. See also Gray v. Employers Mut. Liability Ins. Co., supra (claimant's arm injury "arose out of her work" when it occurred as she lifted a can of waffle batter).

When the employer and carrier assert that an injury is the result of a personal risk such as an idiopathic preexisting condition, they must carry the burden of proving the existence of such a condition. See Hacker v. St. Petersburg...

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5 cases
  • Sedgwick CMS v. Valcourt-Williams
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
    • April 5, 2019
    ...at a place where [the employee] would reasonably be, while fulfilling her duties." Bryant v. David Lawrence Mental Health Ctr. , 672 So.2d 629, 631 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996). Here, the parties agree that Valcourt-Williams's injuries occurred in the course and scope of her employment: the injury w......
  • Ross v. Charlotte Cnty. Pub. Sch.
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
    • November 13, 2012
    ...medical fact is adequate to satisfy the legal test of causation.93 So.3d at 1099 (quoting Bryant v. David Lawrence Mental Health Center, 672 So.2d 629, 631 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996)). Here, Claimant testified that her fall occurred when her foot caught on linoleum flooring, while she was walking ......
  • Caputo v. ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, 1D11–4962.
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
    • August 14, 2012
    ...in the only eyewitness's account of Claimant's fall, and citing to this court's holding in Bryant v. David Lawrence Mental Health Center, 672 So.2d 629 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996), denied compensability of Claimant's injury. The JCC found that no objective medical evidence supported a finding that ......
  • Caputo v. ABC Fine Wine & Spirits/Alternative Serv. Concepts, Inc., CASE NO. 1D11-4962
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
    • July 11, 2012
    ...in the only eyewitness's account of Claimant's fall, and citing to this court's holding in Bryant v. David Lawrence Mental Health Center, 672 So. 2d 629 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996), denied compensability of Claimant's injury. The JCC found that no objective medical evidence supported a finding that......
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