CITY OF MIAMI, PETITIONER,
v.
JAMES R. FORD AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, RESPONDENTS
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 Florida Supreme Court addressed whether an employee who fraudulently misrepresented his prior medical history on an employment application could recover workers' compensation benefits for a job-related injury. The Court held that such misrepresentations preclude compensation when the employee knew the representation was false, the employer relied upon it, and the reliance resulted in injury to the employer.
The Court held that false representations as to physical condition made by an employee in procuring employment preclude workers' compensation benefits for an otherwise compensable injury if: (1) the employee knew the representation was false, (2) the employer relied upon the false representation, and (3) such reliance resulted in consequent injury to the employer. The Judge of Industrial Claims' findings satisfied all three requirements and were supported by substantial evidence.
[1] A misrepresentation as to physical condition or health made by an employee in procuring employment will preclude workers' compensation benefits for an otherwise compensab…
[2] The absence of competent, substantial evidence of a causal relationship between prior injuries and a subsequent accident precludes an employer from using an employee's mi…
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 intelligence“a false representation as to physical condition or health made by an employee in procuring employment will preclude the benefits of the Workmen's Compensation Act for an otherwise compensable injury if there is shown to be a causal relationship between the injury and the false representation and if it is also shown that (1) the employee knew the representation to be false, (2) the employer relied upon the false representation and (3) such reliance resulted in consequent injury to the employer”
The Court's statement of the controlling legal rule from Martin Company v. Carpenter, establishing the three-part test for denying benefits based on fraudulent misrepresentation
Previewing 1 of 2 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceJames Ford applied for a garbage collector position with the City of Miami approximately two years before his injury. During his employment physical e…
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 Causal Relationship Between Injury And False Representation cases and more on FLexlaw
This cause is before us on petition for writ of certiorari to review the order of the Industrial Relations Commission reversing the Judge of Industrial Claims’ denial of the claim.
Claimant, respondent herein, sought benefits allegedly due as a result of an injury to his left foot on June 24, 1969, when the sanitation truck on which he was riding went into a hole and claimant’s foot was bent backwards against a brace on the rear platform where he was standing with three other employees. The City denied com-pensability on the ground that no employer-employee relationship existed because of claimant’s fraudulent procurement of employment.
The Judge of Industrial Claims denied the claim, stating:
“ * * * the false representation as to the prior physical condition of the claimant made by the claimant in procuring employment with the City of Miami precludes the claimant from any benefits under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, and I further find that there is a causal relationship between the injury and the false representation and that if said false representation had been known to the employer, the employer having relied upon said false representation, that the claimant would not have been employed, and further I find that the employee knew the representation to be false. * >}: * >’
On appeal the Full Commission reversed with directions to award claimant compensation benefits. One member of the Commission dissented on the grounds that the evidence supported the finding of the Judge of Industrial Claims that the City relied on the false representations made by claimant to its detriment.
The record reveals that some two years before the accident of June 24, 1969, claimant applied for a job as a garbage collector for the City. At the time he applied for *229employment, claimant took a physical examination which revealed a scar on his ankle but nothing relating to bone impairment. Claimant specifically stated to the employer’s medical secretary that he had never been involved in a motor vehicle accident and had never had a fracture or broken bone.
In fact, claimant was in an automobile accident in 1955 and suffered a broken ankle which was repaired by insertion of a metal pin. An X-ray of the left ankle in January of 1957 revealed the following:
“Left Ankle: There is a single metallic screw through the medial malleolus extending to the opposite cortical wall with a bridge of callus formation extending to the fibula. There is an opaque suture through the distal end of the left fibula. The ankle mortis has a normal appearance. A small fragment of bone adjacent to the porterior malleolus of the tibia.”
Medical testimony established that claimant’s injury was due primarily to the preexisting weakness of his left ankle. The injury occurred when the garbage truck in which claimant was standing hit a hole in the street causing claimant to place greater than normal weight on the weakened ankle. None of claimant’s fellow workers on the truck were injured.
There is also evidence in the record to support the judge’s finding that the employer would not have hired claimant had he not misrepresented his physical condition.
In Martin Company v. Carpenter, 132 So.2d 400, 406 (Fla.1961), the rule is stated as follows:
“We therefore adopt the rule that a false representation as to physical condition or health made by an employee in procuring employment will preclude the benefits of the Workmen’s Compensation Act for an otherwise compensable injury if there is shown to be a causal relationship between the injury and the false representation and if it is also shown that (1) the employee knew the representation to be false, (2) the employer relied upon the false representation and (3) such reliance resulted in consequent injury to the employer.”
The Judge of Industrial Claims in the instant case expressly found that each requirement of the Martin rule was satisfied. His findings are clearly supported by competent substantial evidence in the record before us.
Accordingly, certiorari is granted, the order of the Full Commission is quashed and the cause remanded with directions to reinstate the order of the Judge of Industrial Claims.
It is so ordered.
ROBERTS, C. J., and CARLTON and McCAIN, JJ., concur.
ERVIN, ADKINS and DEKLE, JJ., dissent.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Georgetown Manor Furniture Co. & Am. Motorists Ins. Co. v. Smith, 281 So. 2d 18 (Fla. 1973)…e of a lack of evidence on the employer’s reliance on the misrepresentations, and because it approved of the disallowance of the claim on the grounds of there being no accidental injury. The rule was applied to bar a claim in City of Miami v. Ford, 252 So. 2d 228 (Fla.1971), where an employee lied about an automobile accident and resulting bone weakness in his ankle which directly caused the employee to be injured when the garbage truck in which he was standing hit a pot hole. The ankle gave way due to its w…
Authorities Cited
- Martin Co. & Cont'l Cas. Co. v. Drucella Carpenter & Fla. Indus. Comm'n, 132 So. 2d 400 (Fla. 1961)