STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, ET AL., APPELLANTS,
v.
DANIEL HOULIHAN, APPELLEE
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The court clarified that interest is not payable on business losses awarded in an eminent domain case, as business damages are not considered property in the constitutional sense.
Interest is not payable by the state on business damages awarded in an eminent domain case.
[1] The applicable workers' compensation rate is a substantive matter that is fixed on the date of the claimant's injury.
[2] Amendments to workers' compensation statutes that change the compensation rate are governed by their effective dates.
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WENTWORTH, Judge.
Employer/carrier appeal a workers’ compensation order and allege that the deputy erred in the determination of claimant’s compensation rate. We conclude that the deputy did err by utilizing an inapplicable statute.
Section 440.15(2)(a), Florida Statutes (1978), provides that, for temporary total disability, a claimant is entitled to 60% of his average weekly wage. In 1979 the legislature amended this provision so that a claimant is now entitled to 66%% of his average weekly wage, and it was initially provided that the 1979 amendments to Chapter 440 would have an effective date of July 1, 1979. See Chapter 79-40, § 127 (1979). However, the legislature subse quently amended Chapter 79-40 to provide for an effective date of August 1, 1979 (with certain specified exceptions which are not involved in the present case). See Chapter 79-312, § 23 (1979).
The applicable compensation rate is a substantive matter which becomes fixed on the date of claimant’s injury. Cf., Phillips v. City of West Palm Beach, 70 So. 2d 345 (Fla.1954). In the present case the claimant sustained injury on July 25, 1979, and is thus entitled to the compensation rate in effect on that date. Since Chapter 79-312, § 23, amended the 1979 legislature’s prior enactment and established an effective date of August 1, 1979, for the amendment to § 440.15(2)(a), the 1978 enactment remained in effect on the date of claimant’s injury and the appropriate compensation rate thus should have been 60% of the average weekly wage rather than the 66%% rate utilized by the deputy.
Gunite Works Inc. v. Lovett, 392 So. 2d 910 (Fla.1st DCA 1980), cited by claimant, is inapplicable in this instance because Gunite involved a different statute with a self-contained specific effective date; § 440.15(2)(a) (1979) contains no similar provision and is dependent upon the general effective date provision which was aménded by Chapter 79-312, § 23, to August 1, 1979. The 1979 amendment to § 440.15(2)(a) is thus inapplicable in the present case and the deputy erred in utilizing the amended compensation rate.
The order appealed is hereby amended to reflect a compensation rate based on 60% of claimant’s average weekly wage, pursuant to § 440.15(2)(a), Florida Statutes (1978), and the order is affirmed as amended.
BOOTH and SHAW, JJ., concur.
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Burris v. Goodyear, 577 So. 2d 1376 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)…2d 224 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984) (a statutory amendment permitting an employer/carrier to be reimbursed from the Special Disability Trust Fund for vocational rehabilitation benefits could not be retroactively applied); State Dep’t of Transp. v. Houlihan, 402 So. 2d 490 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981) (the compen [*1382] sation rate in effect at the time of the worker’s injury is a substantive matter which became fixed at such time, and the rate enacted following the worker’s injury could not be retroactively applied); Subterr…
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Purolator Courier Corp. & Royal Globe Ins. Co. v. Hess, 412 So. 2d 897 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)…held that the effective date of Section 440.-12(2)(a) was July 1,1980. This section does not apply to the case at bar. Instead, Section 440.15(2)(a) applies. That section was effective August 1, 1979. State Department of Transportation v. Houlihan, 402 So. 2d 490 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). Claimant’s accident occurred prior to the effective date of this section, and the applicable compensation rate became fixed at that time. Houlihan. Accordingly, the deputy commissioner erred in increasing claimant’s compensation…
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Hunter v. Richie's Econ. Cars & Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 406 So. 2d 1285 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)…he maximum compensation rates under § 440.12(2)(a) also brings into issue the effective date of the 1979 amendments to § 440.15(2) (the compensation rate for temporary total disability). In State of Florida, Department of Transportation v. Houlihan, 402 So. 2d 490 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981), this Court held that the effective date of § 440.15(2)(a) (1979) is August 1, 1979. REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. ERVIN and WENTWORTH, JJ., concur.…
Authorities Cited
- Phillips v. City of W. Palm Beach, 70 So. 2d 345 (Fla. 1953)
- Gunite Works, Inc. v. Lovett, 392 So. 2d 910 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980)