Johnston v. Super Food Services

• Decision Date: 10 December 1984
• Docket Number: No. AX-342,AX-342
• Citation: 461 So.2d 169
• Parties: Jerry JOHNSTON, Appellant, v. SUPER FOOD SERVICES and Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, Appellees.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 169

461 So.2d 169

Jerry JOHNSTON, Appellant, v. SUPER FOOD SERVICES and Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, Appellees.

No. AX-342.

District Court of Appeal of Florida First District.

Dec. 10, 1984.

Rehearing Denied Jan. 11, 1985.

David M. Hammond, Orlando, for appellant.

Thomas A. Moore and C. Thomas Ferrara, Pitts, Eubanks, Hannah, Hilyard & Marsee, Orlando, for appellees.

SHIVERS, Judge.

Claimant appeals the deputy commissioner's order denying wage-loss benefits. We reverse and remand this cause to the deputy for determination of whether claimant's loss of wages was due to physical limitation related to his industrial accident.

Claimant suffered a crushing injury to his left hand while employed as a warehouse worker for appellee, Super Food Services. He returned to work for the same employer but experienced difficulty due to the clawlike posture of his hand. Surgery failed to restore full extension to claimant's hand which at maximum medical improvement evinces minimal clawing and residual weakness meriting an impairment rating of 4% of the body as a whole. Claimant was subsequently discharged by the employer, purportedly on the grounds of excessive absenteeism and tardiness. The discharge was upheld by the claimant's union.

After his discharge, the claimant conducted an unsuccessful work search and entered a vocational training course provided by the Veterans Administration.

At the hearing held on claimant's claim for wage-loss benefits ¹ from the time of his discharge, the employer/carrier took the position that the wage loss was not attributable to the injury but to his discharge for good cause. The deputy concurred with this position, finding that the wage loss, if any, was not causally related to the injury and that the claimant had demonstrated a post-injury earning capacity equal to or greater than prior to injury. Wage-loss benefits were denied accordingly.

The award of wage-loss benefits is not precluded simply because the wage loss, occurring after a period of successful post-injury employment, is attributable in some part to a non-injury-related factor such as economic conditions, seasonal layoff or discharge for a just cause such as excessive absenteeism. Plymouth Citrus Products v. Woodard, 450 So.2d 317 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984); Williams Roofing, Inc. v. Moore, 447 So.2d 968 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984); Lasher Milling Co. v. Brown, 427 So.2d 1034 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). This court set forth the governing rule in Williams Roofing:

Whether a claimant has shown a causal relationship between the injury and a change in employment status is a factual question to be determined by the deputy commissioner from competent substantial evidence. The presence or absence of any particular fact, such as a layoff due to economic conditions, should not be legally determinative of the deputy commissioner's finding. Rather, the deputy commissioner must look to the totality of the...