Matthews v. G. S. P. Corp., GG-179
| Citation | 354 So.2d 1243 |
| Decision Date | 07 February 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. GG-179,GG-179 |
| Parties | Robert H. MATTHEWS, as guardian of the Person and Property of Dale Harler, Jr., an incompetent, Appellant, v. G. S. P. CORPORATION et al., Appellees. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Florida (US) |
Thorwald J. Husfeld of Landis, Graham, French, Husfeld, Sherman & Ford, DeLand, Karl O. Koepke of Whitaker, Koepke & Associates, Orlando, for appellant.
W. Thomas Lovett, Robert L. Young, Orlando, Kim C. Hammond, Robert K. Rouse, Jr., C. Anthony Schoder, Daytona Beach, and Victor E. Raymos, Jacksonville, for appellees.
Appellant-plaintiff appeals from a summary final judgment entered upon his fifth amended complaint seeking to state a cause of action against defendant-Geiger Corporation.
Dale Harler, Jr. was employed by the Geiger Corporation, and the Royal Globe Insurance Company was the carrier for such employer. Harler was injured while working on a high-rise platform incident to the construction of a condominium. The plaintiff alleged that in connection with the maintenance and inspection of the high-rise platform from which he fell, the Geiger Corporation had been guilty of willful and wanton negligence in failing to provide a safe place for him to work and in failing to observe obvious defects in the steel cables that supported the platform. It is alleged that because one of the steel cables deteriorated, over a period of time, and broke, Harler fell to the ground causing him to sustain substantial physical injury. Nowhere in the pleading does Harler allege that his employer intentionally inflicted upon him an injury.
Following the injury sustained by Harler, he filed his claim for benefits under Florida Workmen's Compensation Act, Chapter 440, Florida Statutes, alleging his right for recovery of benefits for injuries alleged to have been sustained by him as a result of an accident happening during the course of his employment. Compensation pursuant to Florida law was paid to the claimant by the insurance carrier.
Plaintiff urges that because of the alleged willful and wanton negligence of the employer in providing an unsafe place for the claimant to work at such a high-level area and failure to provide inspection of and correction of the deterioration of the steel cables, he should be permitted to recover damages for such alleged tort, such damages to be subject only to offset in the amount of workmen's compensation funds he has received.
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