Hardee County Plumbing v. Heflin, s. 89-3072
| Decision Date | 08 October 1990 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 89-3072,89-3278,s. 89-3072 |
| Citation | 567 So.2d 995 |
| Parties | 15 Fla. L. Weekly D2495 HARDEE COUNTY PLUMBING and Cotton States Insurance Company, Appellants, v. Michael I. HEFLIN, Appellee. HARDEE COUNTY PLUMBING and Amerisure/Michigan Mutual Insurance Company, Appellants, v. Michael I. HEFLIN, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Lamar D. Oxford of Dean, Ringers, Morgan & Lawton, Orlando, for appellant (Case No. 89-3072).
Donald D. Kaelber of Peter H. Dubbeld, P.A., St. Petersburg, for appellant (Case No. 89-3278).
Eugene W. Harris of Smith, Cassidy, Platt & Harris, Lakeland, for appellee.
This is a consolidated appeal from an order of the judge of compensation claims (JCC) awarding claimant medical evaluation and treatment and ordering payment of a past medical bill. The decisive issue in this case is whether claimant's claims were filed timely. Finding that they were not, we reverse.
For the injuries for which it was responsible, the last medical paid by Cotton States Insurance Company was in April 1983. For the injuries for which it was responsible, the last payment of medical benefits by Amerisure/Michigan Mutual Insurance Company was in March 1986. Neither carrier paid claimant disability benefits. The claims against these two carriers were filed on January 27, 1989, more than two years from the date of the last remedial treatment, making them presumptively barred by the statute of limitations, section 440.19(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1987).
However, the JCC found that during the period between January 1, 1987, and April 9, 1987, claimant was allowed by his employer to either not work or do light work because of his condition, but was nevertheless paid full salary by the employer. The chief operating officer of the employer Hardee County Plumbing, is claimant's father and his father was fully aware of the fact that his son had continuing back problems because of his various work-related accidents and authorized payment of full salary for reduced work because of this ongoing condition. Thus, relying on Townsley v. Miami Roofing and Sheet Metal Co., 79 So.2d 785 (Fla.1955), the JCC ruled that claimant was paid wages in lieu of compensation during the months of February and March 1987, and his claim, having been filed within two years from the last payment of compensation, was timely. This was error.
The two year bar of the statute of limitations applies unless the employer intended, or the employee...
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United Way of America v. Merlo, 93-4003
...he had suffered an injury to his foot and that he continued to receive wages after telling Aramony this. In Hardee County Plumbing v. Heflin, 567 So.2d 995 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990), we held that the two-year bar of the statute of limitations applies unless the employer intended, or the employee ......