Daytona Linen Service v. Davis

• Citation: 454 So.2d 46
• Decision Date: 07 August 1984
• Docket Number: No. AW-433,AW-433
• Parties: DAYTONA LINEN SERVICE and Mission Insurance Company, Appellants, v. Cora M. DAVIS, Appellee.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Florida (US)

Page 46

454 So.2d 46

DAYTONA LINEN SERVICE and Mission Insurance Company, Appellants, v. Cora M. DAVIS, Appellee.

No. AW-433.

District Court of Appeal of Florida First District.

Aug. 7, 1984.

Rehearing Denied Aug. 28, 1984.

F. Bradley Hassell, of Smalbein, Eubank, Johnson, Rosier & Bussey, P.A., Daytona Beach, for appellants.

Joseph D. Krol, of Ossinsky, Krol & Hess, Daytona Beach, for appellee.

SHIVERS, Judge.

In this workers' compensation case, the employer/carrier appeal an order of the deputy commissioner which awards the claimant, Davis, temporary total disability (TTD) benefits and medical benefits. Appellants argue that there is no competent, substantial evidence to support the award of TTD benefits or to show that claimant's condition arose out of her employment. Appellants also contend that the deputy commissioner erred in admitting certain medical bills into evidence and ordering their payment when such relief was not claimed by appellee. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

Although it is true that a causal relationship between accident and disability must be shown within reasonable medical probability, the causal connection can be proved by medical or lay testimony. Orange County Board of County Commissioners v. Brenemen, 233 So.2d 377 (Fla.1970) ; Scotty's, Inc. v. Jones, 393 So.2d 657 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). It is not necessary for a physician to utter the magic words "reasonable medical probability" to support a finding of causal relationship if a combination of lay and medical evidence provides competent, substantial evidence of a causal relationship. See Custodis Construction v. Register, 435 So.2d 947 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). Although the record in the instant case suffers from a lack of testimony by any physician, we think a combination of the medical records and claimant's testimony provides competent, substantial evidence to support the deputy commissioner's finding of causal relationship.

Claimant testified that her back began to hurt after the industrial accident and that ever since her pain has worsened. Dr. Seltzer's medical reports refer to an injury in the form of musculoligamentus strain resulting from the industrial accident of February 21, 1983. Where an injury is shown, and the evidence presents a sufficiently logical explanation of a causal relationship between the accident and the subsequent injury, the burden shifts to the employer/carrier to show a more logical cause. Wilhelm v. Westminster Presbyterian Church, 235 So.2d 726 (Fla.1970); Poorman v. Muncy & Bartle Painting, 433 So.2d 1371 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). Although appellants suggest that claimant's 1977 industrial accident might be the cause of her low back pain, this proposition was not proven.

We agree with appellants that there is no medical evidence in this record to support a finding that claimant was totally unable to work during the time period for which TTD benefits were awarded and that claimant's bare complaints of pain do not excuse the absence of a work search. Generally, these facts would require reversal. ¹ The medical evidence in this record does reveal, however, that claimant was advised not to work by her treating physician. Dr. Seltzer's report of March 2, 1983, states his "plan" for claimant. "She is instructed to conform to strict modification of activities with bed rest at home and heat application." There is no evidence in this record that claimant at any time was told to go back to work or otherwise released for that purpose. In Fulmer-Orlando v. Taylor, 419 So.2d 734 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982), this court stated:

Although claimant's employment history was varied and the circumstances would ordinarily dictate diligent attempts at other work if he had been so advised, neither the doctor's office notes nor any other part of the record to which we are referred indicates that claimant was released or informed that he could return to work until May of 1981. The equivocal nature of the doctor's quoted testimony does not, in the context of this record, require that the deputy find otherwise. Even assuming direct retrospective testimony that claimant was able to undertake some light employment as early as October of 1980, a reversal of benefits here cannot logically rest on his failure to seek work in the absence of any evidence that he knew or should have known that he was released for that purpose.

Id. at 734-735; accord, Lakeland Construction Co. v. Flatt, 433 So.2d 1253 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). Accordingly, we affirm the award of TTD benefits.

The deputy commissioner did not err in admitting claimant's hospital bills as evidence. The bills were relevant to show claimant's continued attempts to...