Rudolph v. Miami Dolphins, Ltd.

• Decision Date: 30 December 1983
• Docket Number: AN-79 and AN-77,Nos. AM-381,s. AM-381
• Citation: 447 So.2d 284
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals
• Parties: Council RUDOLPH, William Windauer, and Floyd Wells, Appellants, v. MIAMI DOLPHINS, LTD., Insurance Company of North America, and The Division of Workers' Compensation of the Florida Department of Labor & Employment Security, Appellees.

Page 284

447 So.2d 284

Council RUDOLPH, William Windauer, and Floyd Wells, Appellants, v. MIAMI DOLPHINS, LTD., Insurance Company of North America, and The Division of Workers' Compensation of the Florida Department of Labor & Employment Security, Appellees.

Nos. AM-381, AN-79 and AN-77.

District Court of Appeal of Florida,

First District.

Dec. 30, 1983.

Rehearing Denied March 13, 1984.

Edward Schroll, Miami, for appellants.

Adams, Kelley, Kronenberg & Rutledge, Miami, for appellees.

ZEHMER, Judge.

Three professional football players, Council Rudolph, William Windauer, and Floyd Wells, formerly with the Miami Dolphins football team, appeal from orders denying them worker's compensation benefits. Each of the appellants was under contract with the Miami Dolphins, Ltd., pursuant to a National Football League Players contract and a collective bargaining agreement between club members of the National Football League and player members of the NFL Players Association. Appellants sustained injuries while in training camp prior to the beginning of the regular football season, and each was subsequently terminated by the Dolphins. They filed separate claims for disability compensation under the Florida Workers' Compensation Act. Medical benefits had been provided by the Dolphins and were not claimed. Each deputy commissioner denied benefits on the primary ground that section 440.02(1)(c)3, Florida Statutes, excludes professional football players from coverage under the act. In view of the similarity of the orders, the issues, and the factual circumstances, we have consolidated the three cases on appeal. ¹ The issue is whether the deputy commissioners erred in finding that appellants were not entitled to Section 440.02(1)(c)3 provides, for purposes of coverage under the act, that the term "employment" does not include "service performed by or as a professional athlete" such as a "football player." Miami Dolphins, Ltd., is a professional football club and a member of the National Football League. Each of the claimants is a member of the National Football League Players Association.

benefits under the Florida Workers' Compensation Act. We affirm.

The Miami Dolphins qualified as a self-insured employer under the Florida Workers' Compensation Act. Until 1971, the Dolphins complied with the requirement of the act as a self-insured and provided worker's compensation benefits for all of its employees, including the players. In 1971, the Dolphins advised the Division of Worker's Compensation that it no longer was waiving the professional athlete exclusion in section 440.02 and that coverage would not be provided to players, although coverage as a self-insured would continue as to all other employees. At the time of the injuries to appellants, the Dolphins had not again served notice of its election to waive the statutory exemption pursuant to section 440.04, Florida Statutes.

In addition to the collective bargaining agreement, the Dolphins, utilizing the NFL player contract form, entered into a specific contract with each appellant. This contract specified the amount of salary that would be paid for playing with the team during the regular season. It also provided that during pre-season training camp the player would receive compensation equal to ten percent of the agreed salary, payable in weekly installments during pre-season, plus board, lodging, and transportation expenses.

At the time of his injury, Council Rudolph was a thirty-one year old college graduate who had played professional football as a defensive end for approximately seven years. He had played for the Houston Oilers, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prior to being traded to the Miami Dolphins. He had served as player representative while with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was under contract with the Buccaneers to play professional football for $65,000 per season. After playing two seasons for Tampa Bay, Rudolph was traded to the Dolphins and his contract of employment was assigned to the Dolphins. He reported to the Dolphins' pre-season camp on July 13, 1978, began practice and, during a pass-rush drill, injured his left leg. At the time of this injury, Rudolph had been issued neither uniforms nor the Dolphins playbook, which allegedly contained advice to Dolphins players that they were not covered by worker's compensation. Rudolph thereafter returned to limited practice, but reinjured his leg. After Rudolph played on quarter in a pre-season game on August 23, the Dolphins released him from his contract. Rudolph did not play in any regular season game for the 1978 football season, but was paid under his salary contract until released by the Dolphins. Rudolph filed a grievance under provisions of his contract and was awarded $15,000.

Floyd Wells, twenty-four years old at the time of his injury, attended college for two years but left school in 1977. He had never played college football and only played football a short time in high school. Desiring to become a member of the Miami Dolphins, he went to a tryout camp which lasted three days, but was not hired at that time. A few weeks later, he was called by the Dolphins and signed a contract on May 22, 1980, under which the Dolphins agreed to pay him $27,000 per year for playing as a wide receiver if he made the team roster. Wells reported to camp on July 13, 1980, where, pursuant to his contract, he was given lodging and board and paid compensation based on ten percent of his agreed salary. Camp was to last until September 7, 1980, when the regular season began. Wells, however, never made the regular season. On July 19 and 26, he sustained injuries to his left knee and became unable to participate in training. The Dolphins terminated Wells' contract and placed him on waivers. Wells testified that he never William Windauer, a thirty-three year old university graduate at the time of his injury, had played defensive tackle and offensive guard as a professional football player with the Baltimore Colts, the New York Giants, and the Atlanta Falcons prior to coming to the Miami Dolphins. Windauer had a two-year contract with the Dolphins, and his base salary was $35,000 for services during the 1977 season and $39,000 during the 1978 season. In July 1977, Windauer sustained abdominal injuries and a pinched nerve in the neck during pre-season camp. Surgery failed to clear up his problems and he apparently did not play during the 1977 regular season. Windauer returned to camp in 1978 but was advised by the team physician that he could not play football and has played none since. After termination of his contract, Windauer received one-half of the stipulated salary, which was paid out in June 1979.

made the team roster, never played in any game for the Miami Dolphins, and, in his opinion, never became a professional football player. In response to a grievance against the Miami Dolphins filed by Wells, the executive vice president of the Dolphins indicated that Wells lacked sufficient skills to make the Dolphins team roster at the time of his release. Wells was paid under his contract until October 12, 1980.

Since none of the appellants believed they had received benefits equivalent to worker's compensation benefits provided by the Florida act, each filed appropriate claims. The Dolphins defended on the basis that appellants were not covered by the act because of the statutory exclusion of football players from the definition of employee.

On appeal, appellants seek reversal of the orders, urging in the following points that:

1. They were not engaged as professional athletes at the time of their injuries;

2. The Dolphins contracted with them to provide statutory worker's compensation benefits;

3. The Dolphins waived the exclusion from coverage for professional athletes;

4. The Dolphins are estopped to deny coverage for appellants; and

5. The professional athlete exclusion provision in section 440.02(1)(c)3 is unconstitutional.

Regarding the first point, we agree with appellants' statement that the worker's compensation act should be liberally construed so that every doubt is to be resolved in favor of coverage and every exclusion is to be given limited scope by restrictive interpretation. Levine v. The Miami Herald, 7 FCR 278 (Feb. 20, 1973), cert. den., 280 So.2d 682 (Fla.1973). See also, Sam Rogers Enterprises v. Williams, 401 So.2d 1388 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981); LaBrecque v. Florida Vocational Rehabilitation & Division of Risk Mgt., 380 So.2d 482 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980). In Miranda v. Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co., 229 So.2d 232 (Fla.1969), the Supreme Court said of the agricultural laborer exclusion in section 440.02, "any doubt as to the claimant's status in 'grey' or borderline cases will be resolved in favor of compensation coverage and against exclusion." 229 So.2d at 235. We disagree, however, with appellants' contention that they were not engaged as professional football players at the time of their respective injuries. We do not believe the statutory exclusion of professional athletes becomes applicable only when persons are playing during the regularly scheduled football season after making the team roster. The exclusion becomes operative whenever a professional athlete is injured incident to performing the contemplated activities of his employment as a professional athlete, whether during pre-season camp, during regular season practice, or during a regularly scheduled game. Each appellant was injured in actual athletic training or competition that was required by his contract of employment, ² and for which he was receiving compensation.

Nor are we persuaded by appellants' argument that they should not be treated as professional football players because they were injured while competing with other players for a permanent position on the club's roster. Appellants argue that they could not become professional players until selected for the roster because under...