Ferrell Gas v. Childers
| Decision Date | 07 April 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 1D07-1824.,1D07-1824. |
| Citation | 982 So.2d 36 |
| Parties | FERRELL GAS and Gallagher Bassett Services, Inc., Appellants, v. Norman CHILDERS, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Jeffrey E. Appel of Appel & Gaines, LLP, Lakeland, for Appellants.
Mark L. Zientz of Law Offices of Mark L. Zientz, P.A., Miami; and Alex Lancaster and Amy L. Sergent of Lancaster & Eure, P.A., Sarasota, for Appellee.
The employer/carrier challenge a workers' compensation order awarding permanent total disability benefits. They argue the judge of compensation claims should not have considered the claimant's vocational abilities in connection with his physical limitations in awarding benefits. Because these factors were properly considered, the appealed order is affirmed.
The claimant suffered an industrial injury in 2004, for which the employer/carrier accepted compensability and provided medical care and indemnity benefits. However, they denied permanent total disability benefits on the basis that the claimant is physically capable of sedentary work. After an evidentiary hearing, the judge determined that while the claimant's physical limitations alone do not preclude him from engaging in sedentary work, the combination of his physical limitations and vocational abilities render him permanently and totally disabled.
The current and applicable version of section 440.15(1)(b), Florida Statutes, provides a list of injuries which presumptively qualify a claimant for permanent total disability benefits. The statute then provides that, in all other cases, the claimant "must establish that he or she is not able to engage in at least sedentary employment, within a 50-mile radius of the employee's residence, due to his or her physical limitation." § 440.15(1)(b), Fla. Stat. Prior to 1994, section 440.15(1)(b) required a claimant who did not have a listed injury "to establish that he is not able uninterruptedly to do even light work available within a 100-mile radius of the injured employee's residence due to physical limitation." § 440.15(1)(b), Fla. Stat. (1993).
Under the pre-1994 version of section 440.15(1)(b), permanent total disability benefits may be based on physical restrictions and vocational factors which combine to preclude the level of work provided in the statute. See Commercial Carrier Corp. v. LaPointe, 723 So.2d 912 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999); Shaw v. Publix Supermarkets, Inc., 609 So.2d 683 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)....
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Garcia v. Fence Masters, Inc.
...restrictions, but also the vocational restrictions, if any, imposed on the individual seeking benefits. See Ferrell Gas v. Childers, 982 So.2d 36, 37 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008); see also Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Thompson, 974 So.2d 516, 517 (Fla. 1st DCA Here, the JCC made no finding as to which, ......
-
BLAKE v. MERCK
...restrictions, but also the vocational restrictions, if any, imposed on the individual seeking benefits." See also Ferrell Gas v. Childers, 982 So.2d 36 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008); Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Thompson, 974 So.2d 516, 517 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008). In Commercial Carrier Corp. v. LaPointe, 72......
-
Sarasota Cnty. Sch. Board/Optacomp v. Roberson
...on the payment of PTD benefits. Our reliance here on pre–1994 case law is in keeping with our determination in Ferrell Gas v. Childers, 982 So.2d 36, 37 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008), that a claimant's vocational abilities are relevant in determining whether an award of PTD benefits is appropriate. S......