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Workers Compensation Section Chairs : AnthonyCortese – AnthonyV . Cortese , AttorneyatLaw & Ya ’ SheakaWilliams – Quintairos , Prieto , Wood & Boyer , P . A .
theFloridaruling , soclose intimetotheDallas decisionandsocontrary initsoutcome , deserves furtherexamination .
on June 23 , 2022 , a Texas jury entered a verdict of $ 7 billion in punitive damages and $ 337.5 million dollars in compensatory damages to the family of an 83-year-old woman for her death caused by a cable repairmen . 1 on July 13 , 2022 , the First District Court of Appeals in Florida affirmed a finding that the mother and siblings of a 16-yearboy with learning disabilities could receive nothing from his employer for the loss of actual financial support the deceased provided to her and his siblings , although $ 7,500 was paid for his funeral expenses . The Florida ruling , so close in time to the Texas decision and so contrary in its outcome , deserves further examination .
In Sandifort v . Akers Custom Homes , Inc . and Amerisure , 2 the claimant was the mother of a 16-year-old boy with mental difficulties and a learning disability that qualified him for ssI benefits paid to his mother , which helped support him , her and four other children that his mother cared for at their home . The boy took a job in part to buy himself a new pair of shoes . He drowned on the first day of work in a workplace accident ,
and the ssI benefits that helped support his family ended .
The Florida Workers Compensation Act provides death benefits to a maximum of $ 7,500 for funeral expenses and a maximum of $ 150,000 in compensation benefits to certain dependents at a certain weekly rate . 3 A mother and siblings , such as the claimant mother in Sandifort , can receive compensation benefits up to $ 150,000 if they can establish “ dependency on the deceased .” The Judge of Compensation Claims denied a claim by the mother , ruling that the son died on his first day of work and had never established the ability to support himself or anyone else . The First District affirmed , and also ruled that even though the uncontradicted evidence was that the mother and siblings actually were dependent for years on the ssI benefits of the boy who died , and those benefits ended with his death , ssI benefits would not be considered in determining dependency .
The First District cited some cases supporting a ruling that dependency cannot be established solely on working one day , cited some dicta from another case , and admitted there was a case that supported the claim of the mother that they simply declined to follow . 4
We don ’ t know from the record whether the employer was negligent or reckless for failing to properly train and / or supervise this 16-yearold boy with such learning disabilities . He was previously awarded ssI and drowned on his first day of work . We also don ’ t know from the record how the death of this boy affected the emotional well-being of his mother and siblings , or whether the loss of his income made them homeless . All we know is that under these rulings regarding the Florida Workers Compensation Act , this boy ’ s life was worth nothing beyond funeral expenses of $ 7,500 , as opposed to what a jury in Texas awarded for the life of an 83-yearold woman who lived alone . n
1
Goff v . Charter Communications , Case no . 20-01579-E ( County Court of Dallas , Texas ) ( June 23 , 2022 ).
2 no . 1D20-1892 ( Fla . 1 DCA , July 13 , 2022 ).
3
Fla . stat . § 440.16 ( 2003 ).
4
See McCall v Motor Fuel Carriers , 155 Fla . 845 ( Fla . 1945 ).
Author : Anthony V . Cortese – Attorney at Law
JoIn THe WoRKeRS ’ CoMPenSATIon SeCTIon AT HILLSBAR . CoM .
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