DEPARTMENT OF LABOR & EMPLOYMENT SECURITY, DIVISION OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION, APPELLANT,
v.
CURTIS VAUGHAN, LOTSPEICH INTERIOR CONTRACTORS AND CRUM & FORESTER INSURANCE CO., APPELLEES
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Florida's First District Court of Appeal reversed an award of six percent interest on late Workers' Compensation Trust Fund payments, holding that the State is not liable for interest on its debts absent legislative consent or lawful contract.
The State is not liable for interest on late Workers' Compensation Trust Fund payments absent legislative consent or a lawful contract.
[1] The State is not liable for interest on debts owed by the Workers' Compensation Trust Fund absent legislative consent or a lawful contract, even when late payment undermi…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the State is not liable for interest on its debts unless consented to by act of the legislature or by lawful contract of its executive officers”
The court stated the governing legal principle that bars interest liability absent legislative authorization or contract.
The Workers' Compensation Trust Fund made late payments to a claimant for compensation benefits awarded in earlier years, and a deputy awarded six per…
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PER CURIAM.
We reverse the deputy’s 1981 order awarding interest at six per cent per annum on payments due but unpaid claimant since 1978 from the Workers’ Compensation Trust Fund pursuant to section 440.-15(l)(e), Florida Statutes (1981). To partially offset the effects of inflation since the award of compensation benefits in earlier years, that statute directs the Fund to supplement the compensation still to be paid under such an award by adding five percent times the number of years since the date of injury. Tardiness of payment from the Fund cancels to a degree the beneficial purposes of the statute, which the deputy’s order attempts to remedy through an additional award of interest. While the purpose may be commended to the legislature, we are bound by the general rule that the State is not liable for interest on its debts unless consented to by act of the legislature or by lawful contract of its executive officers. Treadway v. Terrell, 117 Fla. 838, 158 So. 512 (1935); Department of Revenue v. Goembel, 382 So. 2d 783 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980). To characterize the provisions of chapter 440 as for some purposes a “contract” between the employee, employer, and carrier, Sullivan v. Mayo, 121 So. 2d 424 (Fla.1960), does not impose contractual obligations on the Division of Workers’ Compensation or on the Fund which it administers. Cf. Division of Labor v. Taylor, IRC Order 2-3189 (1977), cert. den., 358 So. 2d 135 (Fla.1978).
REVERSED.
ROBERT P. SMITH, Jr., C. J., and McCORD and BOOTH, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
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City OF Clearwater v. Judi Acker, 755 So. 2d 597 (Fla. 1999)…89). It is undisputed that the Legislature intended supplemental benefits to provide cost-of-living increases for permanently and totally disabled workers to account for the impact of inflation. See Department of Labor & Employment Sec. v. Vaughan, 411 So. 2d 294, 295 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)(stating purpose of five percent increase is to “partially offset the effects of inflation”). In Shipp v. State Workers’ Compensation Trust Fund, 481 So. 2d 76 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), the First District elaborated on the Legisla…
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Acker v. City OF Clearwater, 755 So. 2d 651 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)…Workers’ Compensation Administration Trust Fund, depending on the date of accident, increase benefits being paid by 5% times the number of years since the accident. See Department of Labor and Employment Security, Div. of Workers’ Comp. v. Vaughan, 411 So. 2d 294, 295 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). In Shipp v. State Workers’ Comp. Trust Fund, 481 So. 2d 76, 79 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), we stated: [T]he purpose of supplemental benefits ... is to protect recipients of periodic benefits from the long-term effects of inflatio…
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Winter Garden Citrus & Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. Parrish, 438 So. 2d 472 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983)…f MMI. The purpose behind section 440.15(l)’s provision allowing increased compensation to a worker permanently and totally disabled was stated as follows in Department of Labor and Employment Security, Division of Workers’ Compensation v. Vaughan, 411 So. 2d 294, 295 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982): “To partially offset the effects of inflation since the award of compensation benefits in earlier years, that statute directs the Fund to supplement the compensation still to be paid under such an award by adding five perce…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Sullivan v. Mayo, 121 So. 2d 424 (Fla. 1960)
- Treadway v. Terrell, 117 Fla. 838 (Fla. 1935)
- Dep't OF Revenue of the State of Fla. v. Goembel, 382 So. 2d 783 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980)