Dalton v. Orange County Sheriff
| Decision Date | 24 February 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. BK-346,BK-346 |
| Citation | 12 Fla. L. Weekly 602,503 So.2d 406 |
| Parties | 12 Fla. L. Weekly 602 Harry DALTON, Appellant, v. ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF and U.S. Insurance Group, Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Douglas H. Glicken, Orlando, for appellant.
Steven A. Rissman and Robert C. Barrett, of Cooper, Rissman & Weisberg, Orlando, for appellees.
We review a workers' compensation order denying, in part, claimant's claim for benefits pursuant to section 440.13(2), Florida Statutes (1983), for attendant-care services performed by his wife, and denying his claim for attorney's fees for successful prosecution of his claim for medical benefits only, pursuant to section 440.34(3)(a), Florida Statutes (1983).
The order awarded attendant-care benefits for sixteen hours per day, seven days per week, compensable at the rate of five dollars per hour. The deputy found that this "is equivalent to or more than the amount a twenty-four hour a day live-in attendant would receive." The hours and rate were acceptable to the employer and carrier, and these benefits were ordered prospectively from March 1, 1985. The claim for benefits from the date of the accident, January 10, 1984, through February 28, 1985, was denied upon the deputy's finding that the parties have settled that issue.
Claimant contends before this court that no settlement was ever effected and proven in the record. The written stipulation purporting to evidence the settlement, filed as part of the supplemental record on appeal, fails to comply with rule 4.130, Florida Workers' Compensation Rules of Procedure, in that it was not signed by claimant or his attorney. Since it is abundantly clear that attendant-care benefits would be due for that period, we reverse the deputy's ruling in this regard and remand to determine the amounts of benefits due or to determine upon competent substantial evidence made part of the record that a settlement of such claim was, in fact, reached by the parties.
Claimant next contends that the court erred in awarding attendant-care services for sixteen, rather than twenty-four hours per day. Claimant's condition is such that he requires care twenty-four hours per day. Someone must be available to supervise and assist him at all times, even when he is sleeping at night, because he is unable to perform any functions for himself. At present, claimant's wife is providing all claimant's care, and has done so since April 1985. She is constantly "on call," even during night hours, to attend to her husband's needs. Accordingly, claimant contends, the deputy erred in not awarding attendant-care benefits for twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week.
We find no error, however, in the deputy's ruling on this issue. We recognize that the relatives of a claimant who are "on call" to provide attendant-care services may be reimbursed for their services even though they are performing ordinary household chores at the same time. Standard Blasting & Coating Claim Center v. Hayman, 476 So.2d 1385 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985), review denied, 488 So.2d 68 (Fla.1986). To this extent, therefore, claimant's wife is entitled to...
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