RICARDO SANCHEZ, APPELLANT,
v.
AMERICAN AIRLINES AND SEDGWICK CMS, APPELLEES

Fla. 1st DCA | 2015-07-14
No. 1D14-4907
THOMAS, WETHERELL, and RAY,JJ., concur.
169 So. 3d 1197 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2015) Positive Treatment
Cited by 8 cases

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Synopsis

In a workers' compensation case, the court affirmed that a petition for benefits filed more than two years after the injury date was barred by the statute of limitations under Florida law, holding that payment of attorney's fees does not extend the statutory period.


Holding

The court held that payment of attorney's fees is not sufficient to extend the statute of limitations under section 440.19(2). The statute of limitations is extended only by payment of compensation or furnishing of medical treatment, neither of which occurred here. Consequently, the April 2014 PFB was barred by the two-year limitations period.


Headnotes

[1] A petition for benefits in a workers' compensation case must be filed within two years after the date of injury, unless extended by payment of indemnity benefits or furni…

[2] The statute of limitations for filing a petition for benefits is not tolled during the period a previously dismissed action was pending.

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Key Quotes

“when an action is dismissed, the statute of limitations is not tolled during the period that the dismissed action was pending; rather, the statute will run as if the dismissed action had never been filed”

Establishes that dismissal of a prior PFB does not extend the limitations period

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Facts & Procedural History

Claimant suffered a work injury and filed a petition for benefits (PFB). The April 2014 PFB was filed more than two years after the date of injury and…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

In this workers’ compensation case, Claimant argues that the Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) erred in finding that his April 2014 petition for' benefits (PFB) was barred by the statute of limitations in section 440.19, Florida Statutes (2011). Finding no error in the JCC’s application of the law to the facts, we affirm.

Subsection (1) of section 440. 19 provides generally that a PFB must be filed within two years after the date of injury or it will be barred, and subsection (2) provides that the only events that will extend the statute of limitations are the payment of indemnity benefits or the furnishing of medical treatment. Here, the April 2014 PFB was filed more than two years after Claimant’s date of injury and more than one year after the last provision of medical or disability benefits, but it was filed within one year after the JCC dismissed a prior PFB and ordered the employer/carrier to pay attorney’s fees to Claimant’s counsel. Consequently, the narrow question presented in this case is whether the payment of attorney’s fees to Claimant’s counsel — with no other medical or disability benefits being paid simultaneously to Claimant and no PFBs pending — is sufficient to extend the statute of limitations under subsection 440. 19(2). For the reasons that follow, we answer this question in the negative.

Claimant’s previously filed PFB has no bearing on whether the statute of limitations has run because “when an action is dismissed, the statute of limitations is not tolled during the period that the dismissed action was pending; rather, the statute will run as if the dismissed action had never been filed.” McBride v. Pratt & Whitney, 909 So.2d 386, 388 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005); see also Kinsey v. Skyline Corp., 395 So.2d 626, 627 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). *1198This holding is not undercut by Longley v. Miami-Dade County School Board, 82 So.3d 1098, 1100 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012), upon which Claimant relies. That decision held that a PFB filed before the resolution of a pending attorney’s fee claim is not barred by the statute of limitations because the statute of limitations does not operate while a PFB is pending. Here, because there was no other PFB pending when the April 2014 PFB was filed, Longley is inapplicable.

Claimant also contends that the payment of an attorney’s fee resulting from the prior PFB is sufficient to toll the statute of limitations. We reject this argument because it is well-settled that the payment of an attorney’s fee is neither a payment of compensation nor the furnishing of medical treatment — the only two events that will extend the statute of limitations under subsection 440.19(2). Specifically, this court determined in Houston-Miller v. U.S. Fire Insurance, 668 So.2d 653, 653-54 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996), that for purposes of determining whether the statute of limitations ran, “payment of an attorney’s fee to the claimant’s attorney is not the ‘payment of compensation’ within the meaning of section 440.19(l)(b), Florida Statutes (1985).” The definition of “compensation” in the 2011 statutes applicable in this case is the same as that in the 1985 statute construed in Houston-Miller. Moreover, even though “indemnity” is not defined in chapter 440, case law recognizes “indemnity” as one of the two categories of benefits provided to a claimant—compensation and medical treatment. See Rene Stone Work Corp. v. Gonzalez, 25 So.3d 1272, 1273 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010) (explaining one issue on appeal was whether JCC erred by “awarding Claimant temporary indemnity benefits”).

In sum, because the JCC correctly determined that Claimant’s April 2014 PFB is barred by the statute of limitations, we affirm the summary final order dismissing the petition.

AFFIRMED.

THOMAS, WETHERELL, and RAY,JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Law Offs. of William F. Souza v. Truly Nolen, 199 So. 3d 531 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016)
    …no jurisdiction to compel Souza to file a verified motion for attorney’s fees. We add that a PFB which is dismissed without reservation of jurisdiction over an unresolved claim will not toll the statute of limitations (SOL). Sanchez v. Am. Airlines, 169 So. 3d 1197, 1197-98 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015) (holding that previously filed and dismissed PFB had no bearing on the running of the SOL, because “‘when an action is dismissed, the statute of limitation is not tolled during the [*534] period that the dismissed action…
  • Hosps. E., LLC v. Hampton, 330 So. 3d 565 (Fla. 1st DCA 2021)
    …tatute of limitations.”). On de novo review, we agree with the E/C that reservation over amount of fees and costs does not toll the statute of limitations, because amount and entitlement are distinct for fees and costs. See Sanchez v. Am. Airlines, 169 So. 3d 1197 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015) (holding that payment of attorney’s fee does not extend statute of limitations because “the payment of an attorney’s fee is neither a payment of compensation nor the furnishing of medical treatment—the only two events that will e…
  • Loziane O. Moise v. Disney Pop Century Resort, 244 So. 3d 403 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018)

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