Griffith v. McDonalds
| Decision Date | 16 June 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 87-1201,87-1201 |
| Citation | 526 So.2d 1032,13 Fla. L. Weekly 1429 |
| Parties | 13 Fla. L. Weekly 1429 Linda R. GRIFFITH, Appellant, v. McDONALDS and Kemper Group, Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Howard S. Grossman, of Rosenthal & Findler, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
David Danielson, West Palm Beach, for appellees.
Linda Griffith appeals from an order of the deputy commissioner denying her claim for temporary partial disability benefits (TPD) and wage loss benefits. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
Griffith suffered three falls while employed by McDonald's (E/C), in September, November and December 1985. After the first two incidents, she was able to return to work, but she quit after the third, feeling herself incapable of continuing her duties. Her complaints consisted primarily of headaches, back pain and loss of feeling in both arms.
After the initial September 1985 accident, on September 20, 1985, Griffith consulted Dr. Kaplan, a chiropractor whom she was seeing at the time for other problems. It was Kaplan's opinion that she reached MMI on July 1, 1986 with a 10% permanent impairment; he had released her to work on March 1, 1986, stipulating only that she not return to her former duties. It is undisputed that she was never informed by McDonald's of her obligation to thereafter search for work and keep records of that search to preserve her eligibility for TPD benefits. She testified that, after leaving McDonald's on January 1, 1986, she has looked for work on her own, consulting with "20 to 30" prospective employers offering work she felt she could do; no records were kept.
Griffith underwent an independent medical evaluation by Dr. Ford, an orthopedist, in September 1986. Available to Dr. Ford were an August 1986 normal MRI exam and an EMG ordered by him, also normal. Because of the normal exams, which Ford stated would have shown abnormalities given Griffith's complaints, and because there was no logical relationship between Griffith's complaints and her symptoms, Ford opined that she had reached MMI without permanent impairment and with no restrictions or limitations on her daily activities. Dr. Saiontz, who saw her in February and March 1987, also opined MMI but with permanent impairment of 10-15%.
Griffith filed a claim for benefits seeking TTD, TPD or wage loss from September 21-27, 1985, November 15-19 1985 and from January 1, 1986 to the present. Based on the foregoing evidence, the deputy found Griffith entitled to TTD for the first two periods and from January 1, 1986 to February 28, 1986. The deputy denied TPD benefits from March 1, 1986 to July 1, 1986 (MMI) based on the absence of an adequate work search, and wage loss thereafter was denied based on the opinion of Dr. Ford that Griffith had suffered no permanent impairment.
With regard to the deputy's denial of wage loss benefits, it is well established that in...
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