J & J ENTERPRISES AND AIG CLAIM SERVICES, INC., APPELLANTS,
v.
MOUNTAHA OWEIS, APPELLEE
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Florida appellate court affirmed workers' compensation award where claimant's two-week workplace exposure satisfied the Festa standard for occupational disease, and the workplace activity was the major contributing cause of disability from aggravation of a preexisting condition.
A workers' compensation award for occupational disease is proper when workplace activity causes a disabling aggravation of a preexisting condition, even with only two weeks of exposure, satisfying both the Festa standard and the major contributing cause requirement.
[1] The Festa standard for occupational disease imposes no minimum temporal threshold, and workplace exposure of two weeks suffices to establish prolonged exposure or series…
[2] A workplace activity satisfies the major contributing cause requirement under Florida Statutes sections 440.09(1)(b) and 440.02(32) when it produces a disabling aggravati…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA claimant worked for two weeks, experienced symptom onset, and continued working for another two weeks before the injury manifested, claiming occupat…
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ALLEN, J.
The appellants challenge a workers’ compensation order by which the claimant was awarded various benefits, with compensability being predicated on the standards announced in Festa v. Teleflex, 382 So. 2d 122 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979), rev. denied, 388 So. 2d 1119 (Fla.1980). Noting that the claimant worked for only two weeks before she experienced the onset of symptoms, and thereafter continued this work effort for only another two weeks, the appellants contest the applicability of Festa to such a short timeframe. But Festa does not impose a minimum temporal threshold, and the time here involved will suffice for both Festa alternatives of “prolonged exposure” and “series of occurrences,” insofar as the evidence establishes that the injury ensued from the claimant’s workplace activity. See Florida Power Corp. v. Stenholm, 577 So. 2d 977 (Fla. 1st DCA), dismissed, 584 So. 2d 997 (Fla.1991).
The appellants also contest the determination that the claimant’s injury is the major contributing cause of her disability and need for treatment. However, this requirement in section 440.09(l)(b), Fla. Stat., as well as the major contributing cause provision in section 440.02(32), Fla. Stat., is satisfied by the claimant’s proof that the workplace activity produced a disabling aggravation of a preexisting condition. See Mellon Security and Sound v. Custer, 687 So. 2d 1372 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997).
The appealed order is affirmed.
JOANOS and KAHN, JJ., CONCUR.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Festa v. Teleflex, Inc., 382 So. 2d 122 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980)
- Mellon Sec. & Sound & PCA Solutions, Inc. v. Custer, 687 So. 2d 1372 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)
- Fla. Power Corp. v. Stenholm, 577 So. 2d 977 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)