WAYNE LENTINI, APPELLANT,
v.
CITY OF WEST PALM BEACH, AND JOHNS EASTERN, APPELLEES
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[*1233] HAWKES, J.
We write only to address the proper standard for determining whether an employer/carrier has rebutted the “firefighter’s presumption” of section 112.18(1), Florida Statutes (2006). This provision provides in pertinent part:
Any condition or impairment of health of any Florida municipal ... firefighter caused by tuberculosis, heart disease, or hypertension resulting in total or partial disability or death shall be presumed to have been accidental and to have been suffered in the line of duty unless the contrary be shown by competent evidence.
(emphasis added). Consequently, in cases such as this, where the claimant can offer no evidence of occupational causation and relies exclusively on the statutory presumption, all that is required to rebut the presumption “is competent substantial evidence that convinces a [judge of compensation claims] that the disease was caused by some non-work-related factor, not that it was caused by any sort of ‘specific hazard or non-occupational hazard’ ...” City of Tarpon Springs v. Vaporis, 953 So. 2d 597, 599 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007); see also Saldana v. Miami-Dade County, 978 So. 2d 823 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008).
Since the record here contains competent substantial evidence supporting the judge of compensation claims’ conclusion that the employer/carrier successfully rebutted the presumption, we AFFIRM the orders on appeal.
KAHN and PADOVANO, JJ, concur.
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Punsky v. Clay Cnty. Sheriff's Off. & Scibal Ins. Grp., 18 So. 3d 577 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009)…evidence. As one might expect, we have generally followed Caldwell, as construed in City of Temple Terrace, in our ensuing case law. See Talpesh v. Village of Royal Palm Beach, 994 So. 2d 353 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008); Lentini v. City of West Palm Beach, 980 So. 2d 1232 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008); Saldana v. Miami-Dade County, 978 So. 2d 823 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008); City of Tarpon Springs v. Vaporis, 953 So. 2d 597, 599 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007); Seminole County Sheriff's Office v. Johnson, 901 So. 2d 342 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005). In at…1 / 2
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Fuller v. Okaloosa Corr. Inst. & Div. of Risk Mgmt., 22 So. 3d 803 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009)…umption applies, it was incumbent on the E/C to demonstrate by medical testimony established within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that the RVOT tachycardia was caused by some non-work-related factor. See Lentini v. City of W. Palm Beach, 980 So. 2d 1232, 1233 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008) (stating where claimant can offer no evidence of occupational causation and relies exclusively on statutory presumption, E/C must produce CSE that establishes disease was caused by some non-work-related factor). Be [*807] c…
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Walters v. State of Florida-DOC/Division OF Risk Mgmt., 100 So. 3d 1173 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012)…. Dep’t of Admin., 372 So. 2d 438, 441 (Fla. 1979), superseded by statute on other grounds as stated in Universal Ins. Co. of N. Am. v. Warfel, 82 So. 3d 47, 52-54 (Fla.2012), ie., by “some non-work-related factor.” Lentini v. City of W. Palm Beach, 980 So. 2d 1232, 1233 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008). See also City of Tarpon Springs v. Vaporis, 953 So. 2d 597, 599 (Fla. 1st DCA [*1175] 2007). The presumption can also be rebutted by proof of a specific “combination of wholly non-industrial causes.” Punsky v. Clay Cnty. S…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Corker v. State, 953 So. 2d 597 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007)
- City OF Tarpon Springs & Fla. League of Cities, Inc. v. Vaporis, 953 So. 2d 597 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007)
- Marshall v. State, 978 So. 2d 823 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008)
- Saldana v. Miami-Dade Cnty. & Div. of Risk Mgmt., 978 So. 2d 823 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008)