TUCKER TRANSPORTATION COMPANY, INC., APPELLANT,
v.
STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLEE
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State Farm sought reimbursement from Tucker Transportation for personal injury protection (PIP) benefits paid to Tucker's employee under Florida Statute 627.7405. The trial court entered judgment for State Farm, rejecting Tucker's arguments that workers' compensation immunity applied and that the statute was unconstitutional without a fault requirement. The appellate court affirmed.
An employer is not immune under section 440.11 from suit by an insurer under section 627.7405 for reimbursement of PIP benefits. Section 627.7405 does not require a finding of fault and does not violate equal protection rights.
[1] An employer is not immune under the Workers' Compensation Act from a suit brought by an insurer for reimbursement of personal injury protection benefits paid to an employ…
[2] A statute providing for insurer reimbursement of personal injury protection benefits is not unconstitutional for allowing reimbursement without regard to employer fault.
Previewing 2 of 4 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“section 440.11 did not immunize the Appellant from the operation of section 627.7405”
Establishes that workers' compensation immunity does not bar PIP reimbursement actions
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceState Farm paid $9,999.80 in PIP benefits to Tucker Transportation's employee following an accident while the employee was driving one of Tucker's com…
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PER CURIAM.
Appellee State Farm Mutual Insurance Company filed an action in county court seeking reimbursement for personal injury protection (“PIP”) benefits from the Ap-pellee Tucker Transportation Company, Incorporated, under section 627.7405, Florida Statutes. A bench trial was held with State Farm presenting one of its claims processors, who testified that State Farm paid Tucker’s employee $9,999.80 in PIP benefits after he was involved in an accident while driving one of Tucker’s commercial vehicles. Tucker then moved for a directed verdict on the basis that (i) State Farm failed to state a cause of action because it failed to attach a copy of the insurance policy to the complaint, (ii) Tucker was immune from the operations of section 627.7405 under section 440.11 of the Workers’ Compensation Act, (iii) State Farm failed to allege a statutory right to reimbursement, and (iv) without a required finding of fault, section 627.7405 was unconstitutional.
The trial court entered its final judgment in favor of State Farm, concluding as a matter of law that section 440.11 did not immunize the Appellant from the operation of section 627.7405, accepting and applying the reasoning and holding in American Freight System, Inc. v. Florida Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co., 453 So. 2d 468 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). The Court then concluded that section 627.7405 did not require a finding of fault and did not violate the Appellant’s equal protection rights, citing Dealers Insurance Co. v. Jon Hall Chevrolet Co., 547 So. 2d 325 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989).1 The court also concluded that the Appellee was not required to attach the insurance policy to the complaint because the action was not based upon a particular insurance policy, but was instead based upon a statutory right. After entering final judgment in favor of the Appellee, the trial court went on to certify questions of great public importance to this Court in accordance with Fla. R.App. P. 9.160.2 Tucker appeals the trial court’s rulings, which we affirm on the same grounds as stated by the trial court.
AFFIRMED.
DAVIS, LEWIS and POLSTON, JJ., concur. . See also Amerisure Ins. Co. v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 865 So. 2d 590 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (citing Dealers Ins. and certifying conflict with Fla. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Tropicana Prods., Inc., 456 So. 2d 549 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984)), review granted, SC04-387 (Sept. 10, 2004).
. The questions are: "A. Is an employer immune under section 440.11, Florida Statutes from suit brought by an insurer under section 627.7405 for reimbursement of personal injury protection benefits paid to an employee of the employer? B. Is section 627.7405 unconstitutional to the extent it allows an insurer reimbursement from an employer for personal injury protection benefits paid to an employee of the employer without regard to fault of the employer?” The answer to both questions is "no.”
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Amerisure Ins. Co. v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 897 So. 2d 1287 (Fla. 2005)…d. In Amerisure, the Second District indicated its agreement with this rationale for denying Amerisure’s constitutional claims. Amerisure, 865 So. 2d at 593. More recently, in Tucker Transportation Co. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 883 So. 2d 357 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004), the First District Court of Appeal rejected similar constitutional claims. The First District approved a trial court’s conclusion that “section 627.7405 did not require a finding of fault and did not violate the Appellant’s equa…
Authorities Cited
- Moore v. Fla. Dep't OF Labor & Emp. Sec., 453 So. 2d 468 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)
- Dealers Ins. Co., Inc. v. JON Hall Chevrolet Co., Inc., 547 So. 2d 325 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989)
- Fla. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Tropicana Prods., Inc., 456 So. 2d 549 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984)
- Arthur v. State, 865 So. 2d 590 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)