DIANA CZOPEK, APPELLANT,
v.
GREAT CHEMICALS AND GAB BUSINESS SERVICES, INC., APPELLEES

Fla. 1st DCA | 2000-06-22
No. 1D99-2320
ERVIN and WEBSTER, JJ., concur.
778 So. 2d 996 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2000) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

In a workers' compensation case, the court reversed the judge of compensation claims' decision that a refund from a weight-loss program provider constituted a future medical benefit barred by a washout settlement agreement. The court held that the refund represented a past benefit previously paid by the employer/carrier and must be returned to the claimant or used to provide the contemplated benefit.


Holding

The refund does not constitute a future medical benefit barred by the settlement agreement. The employer/carrier must either provide the previously contemplated benefit to the claimant or reimburse her so she may obtain the benefit herself. The settlement agreement's silence regarding past benefits and its language releasing the employer/carrier from 'further' liability do not authorize the employer/carrier to retain the refund.


Headnotes

[1] A judge of compensation claims has jurisdiction to construe a settlement agreement to determine its effect on benefits previously provided to a claimant.

[2] A workers' compensation settlement agreement that releases an employer/carrier from "further" liability does not, absent language to the contrary, allow the employer/carr…

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Key Quotes

“The relief sought in the instant case by claimant was neither a request for modification nor a request for further benefits. The JCC was merely being asked to construe the settlement agreement to determine its effect on benefits previously provided to the claimant, a matter clearly within the province of the JCC.”

Establishes that the claimant's request was properly within the judge's jurisdiction as a matter of contract interpretation rather than a prohibited modification or request for new benefits.

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Facts & Procedural History

Diana Czopek sustained a compensable workplace injury to her eyes and back. Her physician prescribed a supervised weight-loss program paid for in adva…

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Opinion of the Court
WOLF, J.

WOLF, J.

In this workers’ compensation case, the claimant, Diana Czopek, asserts that the judge of compensation claims (JCC) erred in finding that a reimbursement from Nu-tri/System constituted a future medical benefit that she was not entitled to pursuant to the terms of her washout settlement agreement entered into with the employer/carrier (E/C). We reverse.

As the result of a workplace accident, the claimant, Diana Czopek, sustained a compensable injury to her eyes and to her back. Following back surgery, her physician prescribed a supervised weight-loss program which was paid for in advance by the E/C and provided by Nutri/System. Subsequently, after attending a mediation conference, the parties entered into a stipulation and joint petition for lump sum settlement (a “washout”) pursuant to section 440.20(ll)(b) and (c), Florida Statutes (1994), which was approved by the JCC on March 12,1998. Approximately two months later, Nu-tri/System closed its facilities in Central Florida, and because Czopek had not completed the program, Nutri/System forwarded a check for $2,520.10 (representing the unused portion of the program) to the E/C. Czopek filed a request for assistance and a petition for benefits, seeking payment of the Nutri/System refund. Then, because the E/C refused to pay the Nu-tri/System refund to her, Czopek filed a motion to modify the JCC’s order approving the “washout” settlement.

Following a hearing on the issue, the JCC entered a compensation order, finding that Czopek had voluntarily entered into a valid and binding settlement agreement; that, among other things, she had waived the right to petition for modification of the agreement, and she had released the E/C from obligation or liability for any future compensable benefits; that the refund requested was for a future medical benefit; and that there was no fraud, overreaching, or misrepresentation which would allow him to modify the settlement agreement. Consequently, the JCC determined that while he had jurisdiction of the parties, he did not have jurisdiction to order payment of the refund, and that in light of the settlement agreement, the refund was properly reimbursed to the E/C. Czopek filed this timely appeal.

The relief sought in the instant ease by claimant was neither a request for modification nor a request for further benefits.1 The JCC was merely being asked to construe the settlement agreement to determine its effect on benefits previously provided to the claimant, a matter clearly within the province of the JCC. See Brunswick Corp. v. Cummings, 648 So. 2d 787, 788 (Fla. 1st DCA1994).

The settlement agreement is silent as to past benefits which have been provided. The opening paragraph of the washout agreement states that its intent is to release the E/C from “further” liability. Absent language to the contrary, there is no reason that the E/C should reap benefits from this money which had previously been committed to provide benefits to the claimant.

We, therefore, reverse and order the JCC to enter an order requiring the E/C to either provide the previously contemplated benefit or to provide the reimbursement to the claimant so she may obtain the benefit herself.

ERVIN and WEBSTER, JJ., concur. . The request for relief filed by claimant unfortunately was entitled a "Request for Modification.’’


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Citator

Cited By

  • Jacobsen v. Ross Stores & Sedgwick Claims, 882 So. 2d 431 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004)
    …JCC’s approval of the settlement actually reached. A JCC’s jurisdiction relating to settlement agreements is well-settled. Construction of a settlement agreement is “a matter clearly within the province of the JCC.” Czopek v. Great Chemicals & GAB, 778 So. 2d 996, 997 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000). The JCC has authority to determine whether a valid, binding settlement agreement was reached, and if so, to give effect to the settlement agreement. See id. (noting that, after a hearing, the JCC entered an order finding cl…
  • …ed the employer/carrier to pay the amounts that Medicare sought from MeCallum, and thus whether the employer/carrier failed to abide by the agreement. See, e.g., Cartaya v. Coastline Dist., 937 So. 2d 700 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006); Czopek v. Great Chems., 778 So. 2d 996 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000). We direct the judge of compensation claims on remand to determine the validity of McCallum’s motion for attorney’s fees. REVERSED and REMANDED. KAHN, PADOVANO, and HAWKES, JJ., concur.…
  • Borque v. Trugreen, Inc., 389 F.3d 1354 (11th Cir. 2004)
    …tlement. The mediation was overseen by a judge of compensation claims who had jurisdiction under the Florida Workers’ Compensation Law to determine how to construe and whether to give effect to the settlement. See Czopek v. Great Chemicals & Gab, 778 So. 2d 996, 997 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000). In July 2003 the claims judge approved the settlement. The settlement agreement required Tru-green to pay Borque a lump sum payment of $8,300 to extinguish his workers’ compensation claim. The agreement contains a variet…

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