ST. JUSTE MEZADIEU, APPELLANT,
v.
T & R STORE FIXTURES AND FLORIDA FARM BUREAU INSURANCE COMPANIES, APPELLEES
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The court held that the Deputy Commissioner erred in determining the amount of benefits obtained for the appellant by his attorney when calculating attorney's fees.
[1] An employer/carrier cannot resist paying benefits, forcing the issue to an unsuccessful hearing, and then claim that subsequent payments were voluntary for the purpose of…
[2] Attorney's fees may be awarded when an employer/carrier unsuccessfully resists the payment of compensation benefits.
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe appellant was injured in a work-related accident and the employer/carrier initially resisted paying permanent partial disability benefits. After a…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Voluntary Payment Of Benefits cases and more on FLexlaw
THOMPSON, Judge.
The appellant challenges an Order awarding attorney’s fees, arguing in part that the Deputy Commissioner (“the Deputy”) erred in determining the amount of benefits obtained for the appellant by his attorney. We agree and reverse.
In February 1977, the appellant was involved in a work-related accident. The employer/carrier voluntarily paid temporary total disability benefits until November 1977, and then paid permanent partial disability (“PPD”) benefits for approximately one month. At that point, the employer/carrier resisted the payment of the remaining PPD benefits.
However, this resistance was abandoned after the attorneys herein attended hearings and the Deputy indicated that the basis for resistance was invalid. Thereafter, the employer/carrier resumed paying PPD benefits to the extent of $3,000.00 and subsequently reached an additional lump sum settlement for $2,664.50. The Deputy later entered his Order, finding inter alia that the benefits obtained for the appellant amounted to $2,664.50, and that all other benefits were voluntarily provided by the employer/carrier.
Section 440.34(1), Fla.Stat. (1977), provides in part that the employer/carrier shall be responsible for the payment of a claimant’s attorney’s fees if they should “resist unsuccessfully the payment of compensation . . . . ” This provision is applicable to this case. The employer/carrier cannot resist paying benefits thereby forcing the issue to an unsuccessful hearing, and then claim afterwards that their remaining payments were voluntary. See Torres v. Eden Roc Motel, 238 So. 2d 639, 642 (Fla. 1970).
Thus, the Deputy erred in finding that the employer/carrier voluntarily provided the $3,000.00 in PPD benefits referred to above.
We have considered the remaining points raised by the appellant and find them to be without merit. Accordingly, we reverse the Deputy’s Order and remand this cause with instructions to the Deputy to reconsider his award of attorney’s fees in light of the total amount of benefits actually obtained for the claimant by his attorney.
MILLS, C.J., and McCORD, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Moss v. Keller Indus., Inc., 393 So. 2d 574 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)…injury, followed by acceptance of total disability within 21 days of the date of injury. This Court has had occasion recently to rule on attorney’s fees in a workers’ compensation case, holding in St. Juste Meza-dieu v. T & R Store Fixtures et aL, 391 So. 2d 252 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), that the employer/carrier “cannot resist paying benefits, thereby forcing the issue to an unsuccessful hearing, and then claim afterwards that their remaining payments were voluntary,” citing Torres v. Eden Roc Hotel, supra. He…
Authorities Cited
- Pilar N. Torres v. Eden ROC Hotel, 238 So. 2d 639 (Fla. 1970)