HERB RALSTON, APPELLANT,
v.
CIRCLE K AND GALLAGHER BASSETT SERVICES, INC., 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.
Affirmed denial of attorney's fees under Fla. Stat. § 440.34(3)(b) because the employer paid the permanent total disability claim within 21 days of filing, not of pre-filing notice.
The 21-day period for payment under section 440.34(3)(b) commences upon the date a claim is filed with the Division of Workers' Compensation, not upon the employer's prior receipt of an informal copy.
[1] Under Fla. …
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRalston filed a permanent total disability claim with the Division of Workers' Compensation and had provided the employer with a copy several days bef…
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 Notice Of Claim cases and more on FLexlaw
ALLEN, Judge.
The claimant appeals a workers’ compensation order by which a section 440.34(3)(b), Florida Statutes (1991), attorney’s fee claim was denied. The statute provides for an attorney’s fee when:
... the employer or carrier fails or refuses to pay a claim filed with the division which meets the requirements of s. 440.19(l)(e) on or before the 21st day after receiving notice of the claim....
In the present case a permanent total disability claim was accepted and paid on the 21st day after it was filed with the Division of Workers’ Compensation. The claimant had provided the employer with a copy of the permanent total claim several days before it was filed, and contends that the 21-day period should commence upon the employer’s receipt of this copy of the claim prior to filing. Although Gunter v. Sauer, Inc., 629 So. 2d 1086 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994), establishes that the 21-day period commences upon actual notice of a filed claim, prior notice cannot become effective under the statute until the date of filing. Because the permanent total claim was accepted and paid within 21 days after that date, the judge properly determined that the claimant was not entitled to recover an attorney’s fee under section 440.34(3)(b). The appealed order is therefore affirmed.
DAVIS, J. and SHIVERS, Senior Judge, concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Indian River Cnty. Sch. Bd. & McCreary Corp. v. Baker, 695 So. 2d 898 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)…s employee’s condition. In support of its position that section 440.34(3)(b) requires nothing less than actual notice of the claimant’s maximum medical improvement (MMI) condition, the majority cites three cases from this court: Ralston v. Circle K, 659 So. 2d 1380 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995); National Distributing Co. v. Campbell, 632 So. 2d 647 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994); and Gunter v. Sauer, Inc., 629 So. 2d 1086 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994). All of these opinions are, however, factually distinguishable from the case at bar. In bo…1 / 2
Authorities Cited
- Gunter v. Sauer, Inc., 629 So. 2d 1086 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)