HIRAM L. CHAMBERS, APPELLANT,
v.
ST. REGIS PAPER COMPANY, KRAFT DIVISION, JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The appellate court reviewed a case where a timber seller's estate sued a paper company for fraud and deceit regarding a timber sale, and the company admitted liability for compensatory damages.
The court affirmed the trial court's decision regarding the jury's special verdict on fraud and deceit and compensatory damages, and also addressed the issue of the final payment to the seller.
[1] An employer may offset workers' compensation benefits against early retirement/disability pension benefits when the pension plan explicitly provides for such a reduction.
[2] The terms of a pension plan can provide adequate notice of an employer's intent to take a setoff against pension benefits for other disability benefits received.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe plaintiff alleged that the defendant paper company, through its forester who was also acting as an undisclosed agent for the seller, defrauded the…
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ERVIN, Judge.
Chambers appeals from a final order which denied his claim for declaratory relief and compensatory damages. We affirm.
The appellant was employed by the St. Regis Paper Company when an industrial accident occurred in 1974. St. Regis paid temporary workers’ compensation benefits, and by 1978 the parties were negotiating a lump-sum settlement for permanent benefits. Meanwhile, in February of that year, Chambers formally applied for the company’s early retirement/disability pension benefits. A few days after he filed this application, the parties agreed to a workers’ compensation settlement representing compensation benefits, future medical expenses and attorney’s fees.
Subsequently, St. Regis notified Chambers that he would not receive his first retirement/disability check until 1984 because the company was taking a setoff in the amount of compensation benefits paid under the settlement agreement. Chambers then brought this action in circuit court, seeking a declaratory statement of the parties’ rights and requesting damages in the amount of his retirement/disability benefits.
In this appeal and in the non-jury trial below, Chambers has argued that the employer’s action has impermissibly diminished his workers’ compensation benefits and that he was not given adequate notice of the company’s intent to take an offset. We disagree.
Plainly, Chambers will receive the workers’ compensation benefits for which he bargained. Nothing in the Florida Workers’ Compensation Act precludes an employer from taking a setoff under the circumstances of this case. See City of Miami v. West, IRC Order 2-2647 (May 22, 1974) cert. denied, 310 So. 2d 304 (Fla.1975). Notice was adequately provided by the terms of the pension plan, quoted in the judge’s order, which explained to employees that “your Plan benefits will be reduced by any other disability benefits for which the Company contributes — either directly or indirectly.”
Accordingly, the order of the trial court is AFFIRMED.
WENTWORTH and JOANOS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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City OF Pensacola & Travelers Ins. Co. v. Winchester, 560 So. 2d 1273 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)…ceipt of all the benefits afforded to him under his employment agreement. An analogous contract provision, which operated to the advantage of the employer, was given full force and effect in Chambers v. St. Regis Paper Co., Kraft Divi [*1276] sion, 410 So. 2d 983 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). While Chambers and his employer were in the process of negotiating a lump-sum settlement for permanent benefits, Chambers applied for the company’s early retirement/disability pension benefits. A few days later, the parties agre…
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Albritton v. S. Bell Tel. & Tel. Co., 485 So. 2d 11 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986)…PER CURIAM. Affirmed. Chambers v. St Regis Paper Company, Kraft Division, 410 So. 2d 983 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982).…
Authorities Cited
- Chester v. State, 310 So. 2d 304 (Fla. 1975)
- West v. City OF Miami, 310 So. 2d 304 (Fla. 1975)