DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION, DIVISION OF RETIREMENT, APPELLANT,
v.
J.W. MCINERNEY, APPELLEE
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The Florida District Court of Appeal affirmed an award of in-line-of-duty disability retirement benefits to a police officer who was injured in a traffic accident while traveling to court pursuant to a subpoena to testify about a matter arising from his police duties. The court held that mandatory court appearances pursuant to subpoena constitute duties imposed by the employer, making injuries sustained en route to such appearances compensable as line-of-duty disabilities.
The court held that an officer's mandatory court appearance pursuant to subpoena, required under threat of discipline, constitutes a duty imposed by the employer. Therefore, an accident arising out of travel to such a court appearance is compensable as an in-line-of-duty disability, entitling the officer to disability retirement benefits.
[1] An injury sustained while traveling to testify in court pursuant to a subpoena, even outside of regularly scheduled hours, arises out of and in the actual performance of…
[2] A police officer's travel to a courthouse to testify about an incident arising from their duties is considered performance of duty for the purpose of in-line-of-duty disa…
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“"Disability in line of duty" means an injury or illness arising out of and in the actual performance of duty required by a member's employment during his regularly scheduled working hours or irregular working hours as required by the employer.”
Statutory definition from Section 121.021(13), Florida Statutes, which governs eligibility for in-line-of-duty disability benefits.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOn February 9, 1988, J.W. McInerney, a Metro Dade Police officer, was subpoenaed to appear in court regarding a matter arising from his police duties.…
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BOOTH, Judge.
This cause is before us on appeal from an order of the State Retirement Commission (SRC) awarding in-line-of-duty disability retirement benefits.
On February 9, 1988, appellee was subpoenaed to appear in court pursuant to a matter that arose out of the performance of his duties as a police officer with the Metro Dade Police Department. As appel-lee was proceeding to the courthouse, he was involved in an accident that left him permanently disabled. At the time of the accident, appellee was not working regularly-scheduled hours. The administrator1 denied appellee long-term disability retirement benefits because appellee was not in the performance of his duties when injured. Appellee appealed the denial to the SRC pursuant to Section 121.23, Florida Statutes. The SRC reversed the decision of the administrator and awarded appellee in-line-of-duty disability benefits.
On appeal, the issue is the application to the facts here of Section 121.021(13), Florida Statutes, which provides in pertinent part as follows:
“Disability in line of duty” means an injury or illness arising out of and in the actual performance of duty required by a member’s employment during his regularly scheduled working hours or irregular working hours as required by the employer. In the instant case, the unrefuted evidence was that appellee suffered a permanent, as well as a total, disability as a result of the accident. The accident occurred while appellee was en route to the courthouse to testify about an incident that arose out of the performance of his duties as a police officer. The evidence is that appellee was required to appear in court pursuant to subpoena and would have been disciplined had he failed to appear. We hold that on these facts, appellee’s appearance and travel to the courthouse were in response to a duty imposed by the employer and that the accident arose out of the performance of that duty, entitling appellee to in-line-of-duty disability benefits.
Accordingly, the order below is AFFIRMED.
ERVIN and ZEHMER, JJ., concur. . The Director of the Division of Retirement sits as administrator for purposes of hearing and determining claims under Chapter 121.