CITY OF MIAMI, APPELLANT,
v.
WILLIAM THOMAS, APPELLEE
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The City of Miami appeals a workers' compensation decision finding a firefighter's hypertension-related disability compensable under a statutory rebuttable presumption. The appellate court affirms, holding that the presumption remains viable and applies to temporary as well as permanent disabilities.
The court affirms that the presumption remains viable in workers' compensation proceedings and is not repealed by implication by section 440.015. The presumption applies to both temporary and partial disabilities, not merely permanent disability. However, the court clarifies that 'hypertension' under the statute means only arterial or cardiovascular hypertension, not all hypertensive conditions.
[1] A firefighter's condition or impairment of health caused by tuberculosis, heart disease, or hypertension, resulting in total or partial disability or death, is presumed a…
[2] The enactment of section 440.015, Florida Statutes, does not repeal by implication section 112.18, Florida Statutes, regarding the presumption of compensability for firef…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“any condition or impairment of health" caused by "tuberculosis, heart disease, or hypertension" resulting in "total or partial disability or death" was accidental and was suffered in the line of duty”
The statutory rebuttable presumption that applies to firefighters' occupational diseases
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWilliam Thomas, a firefighter for the City of Miami, developed a health condition resulting in total or partial disability. Thomas had passed a pre-em…
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PER CURIAM.
The City of Miami appeals an order in which the judge of compensation claims found the claimant’s condition compensable by operation of the rebuttable presumption in section 112.18(1), Florida Statutes (1991), that for a firefighter, “any condition or impairment of health” caused by “tuberculosis, heart disease, or hypertension” resulting in “total or partial disability or death” was accidental and was suffered in the line of duty, so long as the firefighter had passed a pre-employment physical examination which “failed to reveal any evidence of any such condition.” We affirm the order, with the exception of the judge’s finding that the term “hypertension,” as used in section 112.18, was meant to include “any kind of hypertension,” i.e., hypertensive conditions other than arterial or cardiovascular hypertension.
We reject the City’s contention that the 1990 enactment of section 440.015 repealed section 112.18 by implication, to the extent that it has been construed to extend to chapter 440 proceedings. We find that this presumption remains viable in the worker’s compensation context. We also reject the City’s argument that the phrase “total or partial disability,” as used in section 112.18, was intended to be limited to permanent disability, so that the presumption would not apply to a temporary disability, as experienced by this claimant. We find no support for such a construction of the statute.
With the exception noted above, which does not alter the finding of compensability in this case, the order is AFFIRMED. The claimant’s motion for appellate attorney fees is granted, and the case is remanded to the judge of compensation claims for determination of the amount of a reasonable attorney fee.
BARFIELD, KAHN and DAVIS, JJ., concur.
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Bivens v. City OF Lakeland, 993 So. 2d 1100 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008)…to convince the JCC that he/she is suffering from one of the conditions included within the scope of the presumption (i.e., “tuberculosis, heart disease, or hypertension”), and that the condition has caused disablement. In City of Miami v. Thomas, 657 So. 2d 927, 928 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995), we clarified the types of “hypertension” covered by section 112.18(1). In that case, we overruled a JCC’s finding that “the term ‘hypertension,’ as used in section 112.18(1), was meant to include ‘any kind of hypertension,’…1 / 2
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City OF Pembroke Pines & Gallagher Bassett Servs., Inc. v. Ortagus, 50 So. 3d 31 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010)…ability is established, nothing in section 440.151, or elsewhere in chapter 440, conditions the receipt of medical benefits on continued disability, or limits payment of medical benefits to only the period of disability. See City of Miami v. Thomas, 657 So. 2d 927, 928 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995) (rejecting assertion by employer/carrier that disability giving rise to section 112.18 presumption must be permanent). Indeed, the occupational disease is treated as if it were “an injury by accident.” § 440.151(l)(a), Fla.…
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Carney v. Sarasota Cnty. Sheriff's Off. & Opta Comp, 26 So. 3d 683 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009)…r factors such as whether the employee has experienced wage-loss.” Id.; but cf. City of Port Orange v. Sedacca, 953 So. 2d 727 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007) (en banc) (applying a prior version of chapter 440). Also, this court held in City of Miami v. Thomas, 657 So. 2d 927, 928 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995), that a disability may be temporary. In finding that claimant failed to satisfy the disability requirement, the judge relied on our recent decision in Bivens, in which we held the claimant failed to establish disability whe…
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