BENNY JOHNSON, APPELLANT,
v.
BENDER CONSTRUCTION COMPANY AND FEISCO, APPELLEES

Fla. 1st DCA | 1989-02-10
No. 88-763
BOOTH, JOANOS and MINER, JJ., concur.
538 So. 2d 1305 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1989) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

The Florida First District Court of Appeal reversed a workers' compensation claim dismissal, holding that an employer cannot preclude benefits under the Martin Company doctrine without establishing a medical causal relationship between the employee's false health representations and the current injury.


Holding

The court held that all elements of the Martin Company doctrine must be present to preclude benefits, including a causal relationship between the false representation and the injury. The employer and carrier failed to establish a medical causal relationship between Johnson's false representations and his lower back pain, and mere evidence that both injuries involved the back is insufficient to establish the required medical relationship.


Headnotes

[1] A false representation as to physical condition made by an employee procuring employment will preclude workers' compensation benefits if the employer proves a causal rela…

[2] All elements required to preclude workers' compensation benefits due to an employee's false representation must be present.

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Key Quotes

“a false representation as to physical condition or health made by an employee procuring employment will preclude the benefits of the Workers' Compensation Act for any otherwise compensable injury if there is a causal relationship between the present injury and the undisclosed prior injury, knowledge by the employee that the representation is false, reliance by the employer on the false representation, and consequent injury to the employer as a result of his reliance”

Establishes the four-element test under Martin Company doctrine for precluding workers' compensation benefits

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Facts & Procedural History

Benny Johnson, age 37 with a tenth-grade education and history of hanging sheet rock, suffered a lower back and leg injury on March 1, 1987, when shee…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

This cause is before us on appeal from an order of the deputy commissioner dismissing a compensation claim based on Martin Company v. Carpenter, 132 So. 2d 400 (Fla.1961). Claimant Benny Johnson, a 37-year-old man with a tenth-grade education and a work history of hanging sheet rock his entire adult life, injured his lower back and legs on March 1, 1987, when sheet rock fell on him in the course and scope of his employment. Prior to being hired by the employer, claimant had a history of prior back injuries and workers’ compensation claims. Approximately 20 years ago, claimant injured his legs, abdomen, and thorax in a work-related accident. As a result of his injuries, he had to under go several operations, was off work for approximately two years, and received a workers’ compensation settlement. In November or' December 1983, claimant was involved in another industrial accident while moving sheet rock for David Paint & Drywall. He was hospitalized for four days and treated for pain in the upper thoracic spine area and shoulder blades. He was released in April 1984, with no restrictions or permanent physical impairment.

A few days after claimant was hired by the instant employer in December 1986, claimant filled out an application and health questionnaire for the employer. On the health questionnaire, claimant answered “no” to questions concerning whether he “ever had a back or neck injury,” “ever had a state claim for an industrial injury,” “ever had any operations,” or currently had any disability not covered by the rest of the application. The employer’s hiring agent indicated that the purpose of the questionnaire was to determine the physical condition and limitations of potential employees and testified that he relied on claimant’s application in hiring him. The hiring agent also testified that claimant never mentioned prior surgery, previous injuries to his back and neck, or any prior workers’ compensation claims.

In Martin Company v. Carpenter and its progeny, Florida courts have held that a false representation as to physical condition or health made by an employee procuring employment will preclude the benefits of the Workers’ Compensation Act for any otherwise compensable injury if there is a causal relationship between the present injury and the undisclosed prior injury, knowledge by the employee that the representation is false, reliance by the employer on the false representation, and consequent injury to the employer as a result of his reliance. Kalbes v. Armour Industrial Security, 483 So. 2d 124 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); Cycenas v. Sarasota Coca-Cola Bottling Company, 440 So. 2d 39 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983); Higgins v. Trigil Repair, Inc., 436 So. 2d 222 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). All elements must be present before benefits are precluded. Blaine v. Paks Food Store, 382 So. 2d 132 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980).

In the present case, the employer and carrier failed to establish a causal relationship between claimant’s false representations and his injury. The causal relationship in Martin v. Carpenter is a medical relationship between the present injury and the misrepresented physical condition resulting from an undisclosed prior injury. In the instant case, there is no evidence that claimant’s low-back pain is in any way related to any undisclosed or misrepresented prior condition. None of claimant’s physicians testified that there is a causal relationship between claimant’s present condition and a prior injury. Where there is no medical testimony to establish a relationship between a claimant’s present injury and the alleged misrepresented physical condition, it is error to deny a claimant’s claim based on Martin v. Carpenter. Peterson v. Georgia Pacific Corp., 510 So. 2d 1015 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987); Dunnell v. Robbins Warehouse, 465 So. 2d 648 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985); Cycenas v. Sarasota Coca-Cola Bottling Company, supra; Higgins v. Trigil Repair, Inc., supra. A medical relationship between the present injury and claimant’s undisclosed prior injury is not shown by evidence that both injuries involved claimant’s back. Cycenas v. Sarasota Coca-Cola Bottling Company, supra.

Accordingly, we reverse and remand for proceedings consistent herewith.

BOOTH, JOANOS and MINER, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Collier v. Donzi Marine & Feisco, 596 So. 2d 1175 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)
    …ng his claim for benefits and modifying the previous order to relieve employer and carrier of their obligation to pay benefits due under that order is reversed and the case is remanded for further proceedings. See Johnson v. Bender Construction Co., 538 So. 2d 1305 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). REVERSED AND REMANDED. MINER and WEBSTER, JJ., concur.…

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