Costco Wholesale Corporation v. Ulett
| Decision Date | 24 October 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 1D08-2513.,No. 1D08-2514.,1D08-2513.,1D08-2514. |
| Citation | 995 So.2d 1016 |
| Parties | COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION and Sedgwick Claims Management, Appellants, v. Ruby ULETT, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Douglas W. Barnes, Barnes & Simmons, P.A., Miami Lakes, for Appellants.
Ruby Ulett, pro se, Appellee.
Costco Wholesale Corporation and Sedgwick Claims Management (the employer/carrier) seek certiorari review of an order of the Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) denying the employer/carrier's motion to tax costs following the voluntary dismissal of all pending petitions for benefits by Ruby Ulett, claimant and appellee. We treat the petition for writ of certiorari as an appeal from a final order, see Corbin v. Bayles, 903 So.2d 1051 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005); see also Fla. R.App. P. 9.040(c), and reverse.
As this court recently held, the plain meaning of section 440.34(3), Florida Statutes, entitles the prevailing party to reasonable costs. See Palm Beach County Sch. Dist. v. Ferrer, 990 So.2d 13 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008). Here, the employer/carrier became the prevailing party when the claimant voluntarily withdrew all pending petitions for benefits. Id. Accordingly, the JCC erred by denying the employer/carrier's motion to tax costs.
REVERSED.
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...dismissed petitions for benefits without receiving any of the benefits the petitions sought); see also Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Ulett, 995 So.2d 1016, 1016 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008). An award of costs to a prevailing party is mandatory under the statute. See Aguilar v. Kohl's Dep't Store Inc., 6......