Martin County Bd. of County Com'rs v. Jones

• Decision Date: 11 February 1992
• Docket Number: No. 90-3614,90-3614
• Citation: 595 So.2d 125
• Parties: 17 Fla. L. Weekly D476 MARTIN COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS and Commercial Risk Management, Appellants, v. Jean M. JONES, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 125

595 So.2d 125

17 Fla. L. Weekly D476

MARTIN COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS and Commercial Risk Management, Appellants, v. Jean M. JONES, Appellee.

No. 90-3614.

District Court of Appeal of Florida First District.

Feb. 11, 1992.

Paul L. Westcott and Robert A. Donahue of Rissman, Weisberg, Barrett & Hurt, Vero Beach, for appellants.

Jerold Feuer, Miami, for appellee.

KAHN, Judge.

The employer/carrier appeal a workers' compensation order in which the Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) determined that claimant sustained a compensable injury and awarded benefits.

Claimant is a 56-year-old woman who was employed by Martin County as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and then as a 911 operator. She began her employment with the county in 1982 as an EMT. On April 14, 1986, August 25, 1986, and August 28, 1987, claimant was involved in industrial accidents which consisted of falls while employed as an EMT. As a result of her falls, she injured her right knee and hip. In early 1987, claimant had arthroscopic surgery to repair the medical meniscus in her right knee. Her orthopedic surgeon imposed restrictions on claimant which prohibit her from stooping, squatting, climbing stairs, prolonged standing, prolonged walking or prolonged sitting. After her physician advised her to avoid ambulance type work, claimant began working as a 911 dispatcher in August 1987. After 22 months, claimant quit based on the stress, the pain, and the hours. During her employment as an EMT and a dispatcher she has had some psychiatric problems. She has been receiving treatment from Dr. Alvin Rosen, a psychiatrist, for recurrent depression. He has treated claimant since June 1982. Dr. Rosen testified that claimant has a history of psychiatric problems relating back to the biochemistry of her brain and her physical, mental and sexual abuse as a child. Dr. Rosen and a second psychiatrist, Dr. Dippy, believed that claimant's work as a dispatcher was inappropriate for her based on the level of stress. They testified that claimant's industrial injuries aggravated claimant's psychiatric condition.

After hearing the evidence, the JCC awarded claimant temporary partial wage loss benefits plus interest and penalties for the period from August 6, 1989 through and including November 20, 1989 and from January 14, 1990 through and including September 1, 1990 and continuing; additional temporary total disability benefits plus interest and penalties for the period from November 21, 1989 through and including January 13, 1990 plus interest and penalties; remedial medical care under the direction of claimant's treating psychiatrist; all outstanding bills relating to claimant's psychiatric care, and all taxable court costs. The JCC reserved jurisdiction of the parties and subject matter "in the event the parties are unable to agree upon payment of those bills." The JCC also reserved jurisdiction on the issue of claimant's entitlement to attorney's fees.

On appeal the E/C contend that the JCC erred in (1) ordering the E/C to provide claimant with psychiatric care for her preexisting recurrent depression and psychosis and to pay claimant temporary partial wage loss benefits; (2) ordering the E/C to pay the psychiatric bills of Dr. Rosen for the period preceding the claimant's filing of the claim when the claimant failed to show any medical emergency for the treatment; (3) requiring the E/C to pay for psychiatric treatment predating the date of the accident; and (4) awarding claimant costs, attorney's fees and penalties. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

We affirm the JCC's award of psychiatric care and temporary partial wage loss benefits based on competent, substantial evidence in the record. Although claimant had preexisting psychiatric problems, two psychiatrists testified that claimant's depression and psychosis were aggravated by her industrial accident. See Younkman v. Waste Collection Services, 576 So.2d 801, 803 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991) (even where a claimant has suffered a history of psychiatric problems, an aggravation of a psychiatric condition may be compensable if it is the direct and proximate result of an industrial accident).

The testimony of claimant, the two psychiatrists and appellant's orthopedic surgeon likewise establish competent, substantial evidence supporting the award of temporary partial wage loss benefits. Based on claimant's orthopedic injuries and the aggravation of her preexisting depression, claimant had difficulty finding employment. Moreover, the E/C did not inform her of a need for a work search prior to February 2, 1990, and therefore the JCC found claimant was excused from conducting a job search prior to that date. See Saavedra v. Cedars Medical Center, Penn General, 584 So.2d 197 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991) (claimant excused from work search where E/C failed to inform claimant of obligation to perform good faith work search). For the period subsequent to February 2, 1990, claimant introduced a six page (63 inquiry) job diary which covers the period between February 1990 and April 1990 when claimant found other employment. Competent substantial evidence supports the JCC's order which specifically rejected any assertion that claimant voluntarily limited her income, performed an insufficient job search, or failed to look for work commensurate with her physical limitations and restrictions. See Hinds v. Orlando Concrete Contractors, 454 So.2d 81 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984) (...