City of Miami Beach v. Morantes
| Decision Date | 02 March 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. 92-00703,92-00703 |
| Citation | 633 So.2d 491 |
| Parties | 19 Fla. L. Weekly D478 CITY OF MIAMI BEACH and Johns Eastern Company, Inc., Appellants, v. Efrain MORANTES, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Steven Kronenberg and Jacqueline M. Gregory of Kelley, Kronenberg, Kelley, Gilmartin & Fichtel, Miami Lakes, for appellants.
Mark L. Zientz of Williams & Zientz, Miami, and Joseph C. Segor, Miami, for appellee.
This cause is before us on appeal from an order of the judge of compensation claims (JCC). The employer and servicing agent (E/SA) contend that the JCC erred in finding claimant's psychiatric condition compensable.
The relevant facts are that claimant Efrain Morantes worked as a police officer for the City of Miami Beach when, in July 1988, he was involved in a "shootout" with several drug dealers. Claimant's partner was killed during the shootout, and claimant sustained injuries to his head and knee.
Claimant testified that he thereafter came under suspicion within the police department of wrongdoing, and his working relationships with other officers deteriorated. Claimant testified to incidents in which threatening notes were left on his car, and his tires flattened. Claimant recounted an incident which took place in August 1989, in which he woke up in the Everglades with a gunshot wound and after having been beaten. Claimant did not remember how these injuries had occurred. The Internal Affairs Division of the police department concluded that these injuries were self-inflicted.
Claimant, in January 1990, came under the care of Dr. Martinez-Lanza, a psychiatrist. Claimant testified that he related to Dr. Martinez-Lanza a history including the 1988 incident in which claimant's partner was killed, and of having subsequently come under suspicion within the police department. Dr. Martinez-Lanza diagnosed claimant as having depression and treated him with psychotherapy and antidepressants. On the issue of whether claimant's depression was causally related to the 1988 incident, Dr. Martinez-Lanza testified as follows:
Q. Did the incident as he described it to you in 1988 where his partner was shot and killed play any part in what resulted in your diagnosis of depression?
A. Yeah. That was a tremendous stressor for him.
Q. Would your opinion as to that incident in 1988 be the same if you were to learn that in addition to Mr. Morante's partner being killed, that he was also physically injured; that his jaw was fractured and that he injured his left knee and his left ankle?
A. Of course.
Q. What would be the significance of his being injured also?
A. Well, more trauma and more chances of developed post traumatic syndromes.
On cross-examination, Dr. Martinez-Lanza also testified:
Q. Doctor, could you tell us your opinion what specifically about the 1988 incident you feel would have caused him to have a psychiatric problem now?
A. Well, there is an unconscious maybe guilt because his partner was killed. There is a tremendous expectation of himself of what he could have done or not have done. All of that snowballs into the psyches of the patient and increases his depression.
Q. During the time that you have treated Mr. Morantes, has he ever mentioned to you any physical injuries from the 1988 incident to himself?
A. I don't have any recollection of that, no, but it is possible.
....
Q. ... Doctor, is it your opinion then that if the 1988 incident is causing any psychiatric problems today, it is because of the death of the partner in the situation?
A. It is possible.
Q. Have your opinions been within reasonable medical probability?
A. Yeah.
The JCC entered an order finding claimant's psychiatric condition compensable. The JCC's reasoning was that claimant gave unrebutted testimony that during the 1988 incident he sustained physical trauma. Citing to Prahl Brothers, Inc. v. Phillips, 429 So.2d 386 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983), the JCC held that a psychiatric condition may be compensable if there is a causal relationship between the physical trauma and the psychiatric condition. Based upon the testimony of claimant and that of Dr. Martinez-Lanza, the JCC found, "There is a causal connection between the claimant's psychiatric problem and the physical trauma that he sustained as well as the trauma of watching his partner die."
It is uncontroverted that the 1988 incident was the actual cause of claimant's depression. At issue in this case, however, is whether claimant's proof met the legal requirements for proof of causation of a mental or nervous injury in a workers' compensation case. 1 In City of Holmes Beach v. Grace, 598 So.2d 71, 74 (Fla.1992), the court held:
For a mental or nervous injury to be compensable in Florida, there must have been a physical injury. Otherwise, the disability would have been caused only by a mental stimulus, and must be denied coverage under the statutory exclusion. A mere touching cannot suffice as a physical injury....
Assuming the existence of physical injury, the pivotal question then becomes whether the physical injury is a causative factor in the claimant's mental or nervous injury. Obviously, when a physical injury is more serious, there is a greater likelihood that it played a part in the ensuing mental disorder. However, the fact that the physical injury is relatively minor will not necessarily result in the denial of compensation.
The court expressly overruled cases from this court such as Sheppard v. City of Gainesville Police Department, 490 So.2d 972 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), and Prahl Brothers, supra, on which the JCC herein relied. In Sheppard and Prahl Brothers, this court had essentially held that a mental or nervous injury resulting from some sort of touching or minor trauma, distinguished from physical injury, could be compensable.
Under Grace, claimant herein was required to present competent, substantial evidence that his physical injuries...
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