Fred Stevens Tree Co. v. Harrison
| Decision Date | 28 November 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 1D05-3203.,1D05-3203. |
| Parties | FRED STEVENS TREE COMPANY, Appellant, v. Scott HARRISON, AMS Staff Leasing and Aspen Administrators, Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
V. Julia Luyster of Bernstein, Chackman & Liss and Edward F. Holodak, Hollywood, for Appellant.
Jane-Robin Wender of Wender & Associates, P.A., Delray Beach, for Appellee Scott Harrison.
William E. Gregory, Miami, for Appellee AMS Staff Leasing.
In this workers' compensation appeal, Fred Stevens Tree Company (Fred Stevens) appeals an order of the Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) determining that it, and not AMS Staff Leasing (AMS), was the employer of the claimant, Scott Harrison, and therefore required to pay all the benefits associated with Harrison's claim for benefits. The claimant argues that AMS was estopped from denying that claimant was its employee based on the course of dealing of the parties. The JCC erroneously declined to consider whether the doctrine of equitable estoppel could be applied to estop AMS from denying that Harrison is its employee. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.
Fred Stevens, a tree cutting service business, entered into an employee leasing agreement with AMS. Under this agreement, AMS employed the individuals working for Fred Stevens and leased them back to Fred Stevens. AMS processed the employee applications, paid payroll, and provided workers' compensation and employer liability insurance for the benefit of Fred Stevens. Their agreement required Fred Stevens to provide AMS with all employment paperwork prior to any new hire beginning work. Further, the agreement provided that if the paperwork was not provided prior to start, the new hire would not become an employee of AMS and therefore would not be covered by workers' compensation insurance.
Harrison executed his employment papers prior to starting work on May 10, 2004. The same day he began working for Fred Stevens, he fell from a ladder while trimming a tree and sustained serious injury. Fred Stevens faxed to AMS the claimant's application and other paperwork after the accident had occurred. AMS terminated its relationship with Fred Stevens and denied coverage for claimant, asserting that Fred Stevens had failed to adhere to the contract provision which required it to inform AMS of each new hire prior to having the employee begin work.1 Petitions for benefits were filed against AMS and Aspen Administrators and Fred Stevens, which did not maintain workers' compensation insurance.2
Fred Stevens submitted evidence that, beginning with the first employee leased, Fred Stevens routinely forwarded to AMS employment applications by fax on Tuesdays with the payroll documents. If the employee had begun work before that Tuesday, AMS paid the employee for the days worked before the receipt of the faxed application. In the case of these numerous employees, Fred Stevens paid the entire contracted fee to AMS, which included the rate of pay for the employees and workers' compensation premiums as well as the fee for utilizing AMS services. AMS never charged Fred Stevens a lesser amount which might have reflected that AMS was not providing workers' compensation coverage during the days those employees worked prior to the receipt of the initial employment paperwork. The evidence is undisputed that AMS never objected to the procedure by which Fred Stevens provided new employee information with its Tuesday transmission of payroll. The parties acted in accordance with this course of dealings for a year and a half, until Harrison's accident. At that point AMS advised Fred Stevens that it was enforcing a strict interpretation of the terms of its leasing agreement and terminated the agreement. The JCC ruled that, under the terms of the leasing agreement AMS and its carrier had no obligation to provide...
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Bend v. Shamrock Serv.
...provided for in chapter 440. See Avalon Ctr. v. Hardaway, 967 So.2d 268, 272 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007); see also Fred Stevens Tree Co. v. Harrison, 944 So.2d 1109, 1111 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006); see also McArthur, 35 So.3d at 107. The remedy sought and obtained by Zenith here, is not available under c......