GREEN THUMB CORPORATION AND HARTFORD ACCIDENT & INDEMNITY COMPANY, APPELLANTS,
v.
DOROTHY BRITTEN, APPELLEE
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.
In this workers' compensation appeal, the Florida District Court of Appeal reversed a deputy commissioner's order awarding Britten full mileage reimbursement for medical travel expenses, finding that the 1978 industrial claims judge's order—which failed to expressly award such reimbursement despite its being at issue—operated as res judicata to bar recovery for pre-1978 travel costs.
The court reversed the deputy commissioner's award of mileage reimbursement for travel costs incurred before the 1978 order, finding that the 1978 judge's order—which failed to express grant or rejection of the mileage claim—operated as res judicata and barred recovery for pre-1978 travel. The order was reversed and remanded to allow computation only of mileage reimbursement for travel relating to ordered or authorized treatment after the original 1978 order.
[1] A prior judicial order is res judicata as to claims that were mature at the time of the order, absent withdrawal, continuation, or reservation of jurisdiction.
[2] A workers' compensation claim cannot be reopened based on a prior order unless there is a change in condition or a mistake of fact.
Previewing 2 of 4 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“Absent the withdrawal of the claim or the continuation of the cause or a permissible reservation of jurisdiction by the deputy commissioner, we find the 1978 deputy's order to be res judicata in making no award for the item claimed.”
The court's statement of the res judicata principle upon which it bases its reversal—that a final order failing to award a mature, stipulated claim bars subsequent recovery absent specific circumstances.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBritten filed a workers' compensation claim in 1976 seeking benefits and mileage reimbursement for medical treatment. An industrial claims judge issue…
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WENTWORTH, Judge.
The carrier appeals the deputy commissioner’s order awarding Britten reimbursement for travel expenses related to her medical treatment. We reverse.
This is the second appeal in this case. In 1978, a judge of industrial claims awarded benefits and Britten appealed, arguing, among other things, that the judge erred in failing to determine the issue of mileage reimbursement. The Industrial Relations Commission affirmed without comment.
Subsequently, Britten renewed her request for mileage reimbursement. The carrier, while stipulating to the number of miles at issue, argued she was not entitled to reimbursement. The deputy awarded $118.02, plus $125.00 in attorney’s fees, representing all of the mileage claimed.
Britten’s original claim filed in 1976 included a request for remedial treatment and mileage. In 1978, the parties’ pre-trial stipulation and the judge’s order both reflected that the question of mileage was at issue. There is no indication that Britten withdrew her claim for mileage, but the order contained no express rejection of that item. See Orlando v. Exxon Company, U.S.A., IRC Order 2-3040 (September 29, 1976). Although the claim for mileage was mature at the time of the hearing, Britten’s attorney did not present evidence on this issue.
Absent the withdrawal of the claim or the continuation of the cause or a permissible reservation of jurisdiction by the deputy commissioner, we find the 1978 deputy’s order to be res judicata in making no award for the item claimed. Florida’s Workers’ Compensation Law provides a mechanism for re-opening an adjudicated claim if there has been a change of condition or a mistake of fact. Section 440.28, Florida Statutes. However, Britten presents no ground for invoking that relief.
Therefore, the deputy erred in awarding Britten reimbursement for travel costs incurred before the 1978 order. The order now appealed is proper insofar as it awards mileage reimbursement for travel relating to ordered or authorized treatment after the original order. Accordingly, the order is reversed and remanded for recomputation of mileage reimbursement and attorney’s fees.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
MILLS, C. J., and OWEN, WILLIAM C., Jr. (Ret.), Associate Judge, concur.
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Betancourt v. Sears Roebuck & Co. & Kemper Ins. Co., 693 So. 2d 680 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)…line of cases which holds that the absence of a ruling constitutes a waiver of the issue or a sub silentio denial, depending upon whether the claimant presented evidence in support of the claim at trial. For example, in Green Thumb Corp. v. Britten, 393 So. 2d 613 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981), the claimant made a claim for reimbursement of travel expenses associated with medical treatment, but presented no evidence on the claim at the hearing, and the JCC made no ruling thereon in the order. Thereafter, claimant renew…
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Hunt v. Int'l Minerals & Chem. Corp., 410 So. 2d 640 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)…benefits may be treated as they mature, while determination of immature claims is necessarily postponed until they are ripe. This procedure neither requires nor permits piecemeal litigation of claims after maturity. In Green Thumb Corp. v. Britten, 393 So. 2d 613 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981), we held that an order, which did not grant a claim for medical mileage then due, should be regarded as dispositive of that claim when no evidence was presented on the issue. In that case no reference was made to any claim of wai…
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Nw. Orient Airlines & Underwriters Adjusting Co. v. Gonzalez, 500 So. 2d 699 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)…accident. The E/C’s argument would be more well taken had it presented evidence that a claim for the knee was mature at the time of the earlier proceeding, but that Gonzalez had failed to present evidence thereon. See Green Thumb Corp. v. Britten, 393 So. 2d 613 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). However, the E/C presented no such evidence. In fact, the record shows that the knee condition did not concern the treating physician sufficiently to request an evaluation until 1980, two years after the earlier order, which eva…
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