JERRY R. MYERS, APPELLANT,
v.
CARR CONSTRUCTION CO. AND MICHIGAN MUTUAL INS. CO., APPELLEES
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A Florida workers' compensation claimant appealed an order denying interest on past due benefits that were properly awarded. The court held that interest should be awarded on delinquent benefits, and that the 12% interest rate enacted in 1978 applies to delinquencies accruing after July 1, 1978, even for injuries occurring before that date, because the provision is remedial rather than substantive.
Interest should be awarded on past due benefits from the date the claimant should have received them. The 12% interest rate under § 440.20(7) applies to delinquencies accruing on or after July 1, 1978, even for injuries occurring before that date, because the provision is remedial in nature and ordinary principles of construction do not restrict remedial provisions to post-enactment claims.
[1] Interest on past due workers' compensation benefits should be awarded from the date the benefits should have been received.
[2] Statutory provisions that are remedial or procedural in character generally apply to remedies invoked for currently accruing liability, even if arising from earlier event…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Interest should also have been awarded, payable from the date claimant should have received benefits.”
Establishes the primary holding that interest is due on past due workers' compensation benefits
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA workers' compensation claimant was properly awarded benefits but was denied interest on those past due benefits. The claimant's accident occurred pr…
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WENTWORTH, Judge.
Pursuant to Fla.R.App.P. 9.331(b), on motion of a member of the court, we have considered the present case en banc.
Claimant has appealed a workers’ compensation order denying interest for past due benefits which were properly awarded. Interest should also have been awarded, payable from the date claimant should have received benefits. Parker v. Brinson Construction Co., 78 So. 2d 873 (Fla.1955).
As to the applicable rate of interest, the statutory provision in effect at the time of claimant’s accident established a rate of 6%. § 687.01, Florida Statutes (1974); and former Rule 21, W.C.R.P.1974.
However, Chapter 78-300, Laws of Florida, amended § 440.20, Florida Statutes (1978 Supp.), to provide in subsection (7) an interest rate of 12%. Chapter 78-300 also provides, in Section 25, that the act shall apply to claims arising out of injuries occurring on or after July 1, 1978. While E & A Concrete v. Perry, 379 So. 2d 1015 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), indicates that Section 25 precludes the application of the 12% interest rate on any delinquent compensation for injuries which occurred prior to July 1,1978, we now qualify that view in the case of interest on delinquencies accruing after that date. Under ordinary principles of construction, Section 25, Chapter 78-300, Laws of Florida, does not restrict application of provisions of the act which are remedial or procedural in character.
We find no basis in the act or its history to indicate Section 25 was intended to alter the usual rule that after their effective date remedial enactments apply to remedies then invoked for currently accruing liability arising out of earlier events or claims. See, e. g., Tel Service Co. Inc. v. General Capital Corp., 227 So. 2d 667 (Fla.1969); National Bank of Jacksonville v. Williams, 38 Fla. 305, 20 So. 931 (1896); see also Walker & LaBerge Inc. v. Halligan, 344 So. 2d 239 (Fla.1977).
The opinion in E & A Concrete v. Perry, supra, does not indicate that the parties presented or that the court addressed the issue of whether § 440.20(7), Florida Statutes (1978), is a remedial or substantive provision. We conclude that this subsection is remedial insofar as it alters the interest rate on compensation improperly withheld after the amendment, and that the ruling in E & A Concrete v. Perry, supra, was correct only insofar as it involved interest on benefits which became delinquent before July 1, 1978. Interest payable for delinquencies accruing on or after July 1, 1978, is governed by § 440.-20(7), Florida Statutes (1978), and is properly awarded at a rate of 12%.
The order appealed is hereby amended to award interest as indicated above, and is affirmed as so amended.
ROBERT P. SMITH, Jr., ERVIN, BOOTH, SHIVERS and SHAW, JJ., concur. MILLS, C. J., and McCORD and LARRY G. SMITH, JJ., dissent.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (18 total)
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Cone Bros. Contracting & Whiting Nat'l Servs. v. Gordon, 453 So. 2d 420 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)…for which said employer is liable by the payment of a lump sum equal to the present value of such part of the compensation, computed at 4 percent true discount compounded annually.... . We distinguish this case from Myers v. Carr Construction Co., 387 So. 2d 417 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), in which we held section 25, chapter 78-300, amending the interest rate in section 440.20(7) from 6 percent to 12 percent, to be remedial in character and therefore applicable to currently accruing liability arising from an inju…
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Jones v. Plantation Foods, 388 So. 2d 590 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980)…as amended at time of trial. Summerlin v. Tramill, 290 So. 2d 53 (Fla. 1974). Section 25 of Chapter 78-300, Laws of Florida, limiting the act to subsequent injuries, would in my opinion relate to substantive changes. Cf., Myers v. Carr Construction, 387 So. 2d 417 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980).…
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Paulk v. Sch. Bd. OF Palm Beach Cnty. & Dep't of Risk Mgmt., 615 So. 2d 260 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993)…may apply without regard to the date of accident and injury, as the parties generally do not have a vested entitlement with regard to such matters. See e.g., Walker and LaBerge, Inc. v. Halligan, 344 So. 2d 239 (Fla.1977); Myers v. Carr Const. Co., 387 So. 2d 417 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980). As an analysis of the various decisions in this area would suggest, it is sometimes difficult to clearly demarcate the distinction between a substantive right and a procedural or remedial enactment. But it has been indicated tha…
Previewing 3 of 18 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Parker v. Brinson Constr. Co. & Fla. Indus. Comm'n, 78 So. 2d 873 (Fla. 1955)
- Walker & LaBERGE, Inc. v. Halligan, 344 So. 2d 239 (Fla. 1977)
- TEL Serv. Co., Inc. v. Gen. Cap. Corp., 227 So. 2d 667 (Fla. 1969)
- Williams Bros. IGA Grocery v. Anthony R. Greene & the Great Atl. & Pac. Tea Co., 379 So. 2d 1015 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980)
- Nat'l Bank of Jacksonville v. Williams, 38 Fla. 305 (Fla. 1896)