CITY OF TAMPA, APPELLANT,
v.
BUDDY W. MORALES, APPELLEE
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Florida appellate court affirmed a workers' compensation award but reduced permanent partial disability benefits from 80% to 18%, holding that an employee's failure to adequately seek alternative employment precludes consideration of wage-earning capacity loss and limits recovery to anatomic impairment alone.
An employee's failure to adequately seek employment within his physical capabilities precludes consideration of wage-earning capacity loss in permanent partial disability awards, which must be based solely on anatomic impairment.
[1] An employee's failure to adequately seek employment within his physical capabilities precludes recovery for permanent partial disability based on wage-earning capacity lo…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA self-insured employer appealed a workers' compensation order awarding an injured fireman 80% permanent partial disability benefits. The claimant's i…
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WENTWORTH, Judge.
The self-insured employer appeals, and the claimant cross-appeals, a worker’s compensation order which we affirm except as to the award of 80% permanent partial disability benefits based upon diminution of wage earning capacity. The claimant's injury precludes his continued employment as a fireman, and he has unsuccessfully attempted to continue his part-time employment as an automotive mechanic. However, although the record evidence does not indicate that less strenuous employment is necessarily beyond his capabilities, the claimant has made no other effort to test his employability on the open labor market. The claimant’s failure to adequately seek employment within his physical capabilities precludes any consideration of wage earning capacity loss, and the compensation awarded should have been based only upon the anatomic impairment sustained. Exxon Co. U.S.A. v. Alexis, 370 So. 2d 1128 (Fla. 1978); Mahler v. Lauderdale Lakes National Bank, 322 So. 2d 507 (Fla.1975). The judge of industrial claims found that the claimant in the present case has sustained an anatomic impairment of 18% of the body as a whole; the order appealed is amended so as to award compensation for an 18% permanent partial disability.
Accordingly, the order appealed is affirmed as amended.
ROBERT P. SMITH, Jr., and ERVIN, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Fla. Dep't OF Corr. v. Carro, 410 So. 2d 629 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)…age-earning capacity, whichever is greater. (e.s.) The deputy specifically found that there was no diminution of wage-earning capacity. Therefore, the PPD rating must be based only upon the anatomical impairment sustained. City of Tampa v. Morales, 384 So. 2d 911 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980). The deputy erred in awarding 10% PPD since 5% was the greatest physical impairment rating given the claimant by an examining or treating physician. Accordingly, the order appealed is amended so as to award compensation for a 5%…
Authorities Cited
- Exxon Co. v. Alexis, 370 So. 2d 1128 (Fla. 1978)
- Mahler v. Lauderdale Lakes Nat'l Bank, 322 So. 2d 507 (Fla. 1975)