SUGAR CANE GROWERS COOPERATIVE AND PROFESSIONAL ADMINISTRATORS, INC., APPELLANTS,
v.
BOVELL MCLEAN, APPELLEE
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Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative and its workers' compensation carrier appealed an award of permanent total disability benefits to a seasonal worker injured twice on the job. The Florida appellate court affirmed, finding competent substantial evidence that the claimant could not perform light work continuously due to physical limitations and that any offered employment was sheltered.
The court affirmed the permanent total disability award, finding competent substantial evidence that McLean could not perform light work continuously due to physical limitations. The court also upheld the determination that the offered job was sheltered employment because the claimant could regulate his own hours to accommodate his disability.
[1] A claimant may be found permanently and totally disabled if medical testimony establishes an inability to perform light work uninterruptedly on a continuous basis due to…
[2] The determination of whether a particular job constitutes sheltered employment is a factual issue.
Previewing 2 of 5 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“The judge of Compensation Claims ruled that claimant is permanently and totally disabled on alternative grounds. We find that the judge did not err in interpreting the medical testimony as establishing that the claimant is permanently and totally disabled due to an inability to perform light work uninterruptedly on a continuous basis due to physical limitations.”
Establishes the court's holding on the primary issue of permanent total disability based on inability to perform light work continuously.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBovell McLean was a seasonal worker for Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative who sustained two compensable injuries: one in November 1992 and another on Jan…
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DAVIS, Judge.
Appellants, Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative and Professional Administrators, Inc., employer and carrier respectively, appeal the award of permanent total disability benefits to Bovell McLean. Mr. McLean was injured twice while in the employ of Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative as a seasonal worker. His first compensable injury occurred in November 1992, the second on January 21,1993. Finding competent substantial evidence to support the ruling that Mr. McLean is permanently and totally disabled, we affirm.
The Judge of Compensation Claims ruled that claimant is permanently and totally disabled on alternative grounds. We find that the judge did not err in interpreting the medical testimony as establishing that the claimant is permanently and totally disabled due to an inability to perform light work uninterruptedly on a continuous basis due to physical limitations. See Roll v. Sebastian Inlet, 609 So. 2d 674, 676 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); see also Herrera v. Hojo Inn Maingate, 680 So. 2d 439 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996).
We also find competent substantial evidence to support the finding that the job offered to the claimant was sheltered employment. “The determination that a particular job is sheltered employment is, like many other matters that arise in workers’ compensation cases, a largely factual issue.” Wal-Mart Stores v. Liggon, 668 So. 2d 259, 271 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996). Employment in a regular job may be considered sheltered, when, as here, the claimant is permitted to regulate his own hours to accommodate his disability. See Shaw v. Publix Supermarkets, Inc., 609 So. 2d 683 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); Lovell Bros., Inc. v. Kittles, 518 So. 2d 319, 320-21 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987).
The judge did err in concluding that sections 440.02(34)(f) and 440.15(1)(b), Florida Statutes (1994), relating permanent total disability to catastrophic injuries as defined in the Federal Social Security Act were procedural burden of proof amendments which could be applied retroactively. See Merritt Manor Nursing Home v. Caldwell, 667 So. 2d 265 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995). However, that was harmless error as it was merely an alternative holding. We find no merit to appellants’ remaining arguments. Accordingly, the order reclassifying Mr. McLean as permanently and totally disabled is AFFIRMED.
KAHN and BENTON, JJ., concur.
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Cited By
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Commercial Carrier Corp. & Comcar Indus., Inc. v. LaPOINTE, 723 So. 2d 912 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999)…fort and responsibility but laden with rest and comfort (employment plums that do not often dangle from the tree of everyday economics)”) (quoting Unora v. Glen Alden Coal Co., 377 Pa. 7,104 A2d 104, 107 (1954)); Sugar Cane Growers Co-op. v. McLean, 679 So. 2d 856, 857 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996) (“Employment in a regular job may be considered sheltered, when, as here, the claimant is permitted to regulate his own hours to accommodate his disability.”); U.S. Fidelity and Guaranty Assoc. v. Kemp, 658 So. 2d 1212 (Fla.…
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Cooper v. Escambia Cnty. Sch. Bd., 734 So. 2d 1072 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999)…t and responsibility but laden with rest and comfort (employment plums that do not often dangle from the tree of everyday economics)”) (quoting Unora v. Glen Alden Coal Co., 377 Pa. 7, 104 A. 2d 104, 107 (1954)); Sugar Cane Growers Co-op. v. McLean, 679 So. 2d 856, 857 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996) (“Employment in a regular job may be considered sheltered, when, as here, the claimant is permitted to regulate his own hours to accommodate his disability.”); U.S. Fidelity and Guaranty Assoc. v. Kemp, 658 So. 2d 1212 (Fla.…1 / 3
Authorities Cited
- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Liggon, 668 So. 2d 259 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996)
- Shaw v. Publix Supermarkets, 609 So. 2d 683 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)
- Lovell Bros., Inc. v. Kittles, 518 So. 2d 319 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)
- Roll v. Inlet, 609 So. 2d 674 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)
- Enedina Herrera v. Hojo INN Maingate & Armor Ins. Co., 680 So. 2d 439 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996)
- Merritt Manor Nursing Home & Constitution State Serv. Co. v. Leola Caldwell, 667 So. 2d 265 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995)