GOOD SAMARITAN HOSPITAL AND INSURANCE COMPANY OF NORTH AMERICA, APPELLANTS,
v.
RUTH BISHOP, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1982-04-29
No. ZZ-429
Smith, Jr., C. J., Mills, J., Shivers, J.
413 So. 2d 158 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1982)

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Synopsis

The court reversed the deputy commissioner's finding of a Section 440.205 violation for terminating employment due to a workers' compensation claim, holding the deputy commissioner lacked statutory jurisdiction to adjudicate such violations.


Holding

A deputy commissioner lacks statutory authority to find that an employer violated Section 440.205 by terminating an employee's employment due to a valid workers' compensation claim.


Headnotes

[1] A deputy commissioner lacks statutory jurisdiction to adjudicate claims that an employer violated Section 440.205 by terminating employment due to a workers' compensation…

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Facts & Procedural History

An employee filed a workers' compensation claim, and the employer terminated the employee's employment. The deputy commissioner found the employer vio…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

The subject of this appeal is a deputy commissioner’s finding that the employer violated Section 440.205, Florida Statutes, by terminating the claimant’s employment “by reason of such employee’s valid claim for compensation or attempt to claim compensation under the Worker’s Compensation Law.”

Appellants assert that the deputy commissioner lacked jurisdiction to determine whether a violation of Section 440.205 occurred. We agree that the deputy commissioner was without statutory authority to make such a finding and it is without effect. Cf. U. S. Home Corporation v. Parker, 404 So. 2d 170 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981) (deputy commissioner lacked specific statutory authority to adjudicate controversy as to validity of contract between carrier and subcontractor). We thus determine that no remedy for termination of employment on account of a claim or attempted claim for compensation exists in a proceeding before a deputy commissioner to obtain benefits under the Worker’s Compensation Law. However, we reserve for determination in a proper case the question whether a cause of action may be implied, based on Section 440.205, in a proceeding in circuit court. See Piezo Technology and Professional Administrators, Inc. v. Smith, 413 So. 2d 121 (Fla. 1st DCA Case No. ZZ-27 opinion filed April 26, 1982).

REVERSED

ROBERT P. SMITH, Jr., C. J., and MILLS and SHIVERS, JJ., concur.


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