JOHNS EASTERN COMPANY AND INDIAN RIVER COUNTY BCC, APPELLANTS,
v.
JERALD BELLAMY, APPELLEE
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The court held that the Judge of Compensation Claims may have applied an incorrect standard for rebutting the occupational causation presumption afforded to firefighters.
[1] A Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) must apply the correct burden of proof when determining whether an employer has rebutted the occupational causation presumption affor…
[2] An employer can rebut the occupational causation presumption with competent evidence when a claimant relies solely on the presumption to support their claim.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAn employer/carrier appealed an award of benefits for hypertension and premature ventricular contractions to a firefighter/paramedic. The Judge of Com…
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In this workers’ compensation matter, the Employer/Carrier (E/C) argues the Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) erred in awarding Claimant, a firefighter/paramedic, benefits for his diagnosed hypertension and premature ventricular contractions. We affirm without further comment the JCC’s finding that Claimant satisfied the prerequisites for the occupational causation presumption afforded firefighters, and certain other employees, set out in section 112.18(l)(a), Florida Statutes (2011). Nevertheless, because it appears the JCC may have relied upon an incorrect standard in determining whether the E/C successfully rebutted the occupational causation presumption, we reverse and remand.
In Punsky v. Clay County Sheriff’s Office, 18 So.3d 577 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009) (en banc), we addressed the very issue presented in this appeal — the burden of persuasion required of an employer who seeks to rebut the presumption afforded by section 112.18. Two circumstances were identified and this Court determined that each required a different level of proof to rebut the presumption. In those circumstances whereby a claimant relies solely on the presumption to support his or her claim, *1059the E/C can rebut the presumption with “competent evidence.” Id. at 579. On the other hand, “when there is evidence supporting the presumption which is accepted as credible by the JCC [then] clear and convincing evidence would be required to be found by the JCC ... to rebut the statutory presumption.” Id. at 584.
Here, because the JCC cited no independent medical evidence in support of occupational causation, the E/C’s burden to rebut the presumption required it produce “competent” evidence. The JCC, however, referenced both burdens of proof, without specifying either as the burden to be met, in finding the presumption was not rebutted.
Because it was not clear whether the JCC erroneously held the E/C to the higher stand of proof, the order is REVERSED, and the matter REMANDED, for application of the appropriate burden of proof.
CLARK, MAKAR, and OSTERHAUS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Gonzalez v. ST. Lucie County-Fire District/Florida Mun. Ins. Trust-Florida League of Cities, Inc., 186 So. 3d 1106 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016)…he E/C can rebut the presumption with competent evidence; however, where “there is evidence supporting the presumption which is accepted as credible by the JCC [then] clear and convincing evidence would be required.... ” See Johns E. Co. v. Bellamy, 137 So. 3d 1058, 1058-59 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014) (citing Punsky, 18 So. 3d at 579, 584 (emphasis supplied))1. In this case, the JCC expressly found that the E/C successfully rebutted the presumption under either evidentiary standard: competent evidence or clear and con…
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City OF Jacksonville/City of Jacksonville Risk Mgmt. v. Ratliff, 217 So. 3d 183 (Fla. 1st DCA 2017)…did not find the testimony to meet the standard of “competent evidence or clear and convincing evidence” sufficient to establish a rebuttal of the presumption. Use of this general “catch-all” standard was error. In Johns Eastern Company v. Bellamy, 137 So. 3d 1058 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014), this Court held a JCC must determine what rebuttal standard the E/C must satisfy and identify it in the final order. Use of a “catch all” reference to both burdens of evidentiary persuasion is not sufficient and does not adequat…
Authorities Cited
- Punsky v. Clay Cnty. Sheriff's Off. & Scibal Ins. Grp., 18 So. 3d 577 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009)