CELESTINO REYES, APPELLANT,
v.
GRANITE CONSTRUCTION CO., AND RSKCO, APPELLEES
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Celestino Reyes appealed a workers' compensation judge's denial of temporary total disability, medical treatment, and permanent total disability benefits following a workplace injury. The Florida First District Court of Appeal affirmed the denial, clarifying that the PTD denial applied only to physical injuries, as psychiatric MMI had not yet been reached.
The court affirmed the JCC's denial of all claimed benefits. The court clarified that the denial of PTD benefits applies solely to physical injuries, as determination of MMI must precede an award of PTD benefits, and psychiatric MMI had not yet been reached. The claim for further impairment benefits was properly dismissed as premature.
[1] A claimant cannot receive permanent total disability benefits before reaching maximum medical improvement.
[2] A determination of maximum medical improvement must precede an award of permanent total disability benefits.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“a determination of MMI must precede an award of PTD benefits”
Establishes the legal requirement that maximum medical improvement must be determined before permanent total disability benefits can be awarded.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceCelestino Reyes claimed workers' compensation benefits for injuries sustained in the workplace. The Judge of Compensation Claims denied his claims for…
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BROWNING, J.
The claimant, Celestino Reyes, appeals certain portions of the final order of the Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) that denied and dismissed the claim for temporary total disability/temporary partial disability (TTD/TPD) benefits from June 13, 2001; that denied and dismissed the claim for medical care/treatment with an orthopedist for the alleged back injuries; that denied and dismissed the claim for payment of permanent total disability (PTD) benefits; and that dismissed as premature (and, thus, not ripe) the claim for payment of further impairment benefits. We construe the denial of PTD benefits as pertaining solely to a physical standpoint, as the issue of entitlement to PTD benefits from a psychiatric standpoint is premature because Reyes has not yet reached psychiatric maximum medical improvement (MMI).
See Rivendell of Fort Walton v. Petway, 833 So. 2d 292, 296 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002) (setting out general rule in Florida that a determination of MMI must precede an award of PTD benefits); Orange County Sch. Bd. v. Melman, 721 So. 2d 1183 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998) (noting that a claimant cannot receive PTD before reaching MMI).
Concluding that the JCC’s findings of fact are supported by competent substantial evidence and that the JCC correctly applied the law to the facts, as found, we affirm the final order, subject to the construction of the denial of PTD benefits as referring solely to the physical standpoint. See McFarlane, Ferguson v. Whaley, 641 So. 2d 173 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994) (stating that where claimant has attained MMI physically, but not psychiatrically, a PTD award may be predicated solely on physical injuries).
AFFIRMED, with a clarification.
DAVIS and HAWKES, JJ., CONCUR.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Brevard Cnty. Sch. Bd. & ITT Specialty Risk Servs. v. Hopkins, 911 So. 2d 859 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005)…t reached psychiatric MMI is not premature if he or she has reached physical MMI and the award is predicated solely on the physical injury. See McFarlane, Ferguson v. Whaley, 641 So. 2d 173 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994), cited in Reyes v. Granite Constr. Co., 894 So. 2d 274 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004). This exception does not apply here because the final order’s award of PTD is based on the JCC’s [*861] determination that a combination of physical and psychiatric conditions rendered Claimant unemployable and entitled to PTD.…
Authorities Cited
- Rivendell OF FT. Walton & Gallagher Bassett Servs., Inc. v. Petway, 833 So. 2d 292 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002)
- McFARLANE v. Hamilton H. Whaley, 641 So. 2d 173 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)
- Orange Cnty. Sch. Bd. & United Self-insured Servs. v. Melman, 721 So. 2d 1183 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)