ALPHES ENTERPRISES AND SENTRY INDEMNITY COMPANY, APPELLANTS,
v.
JAMES DEAN, APPELLEE
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In this workers' compensation case, the court reversed a judge's decision excusing an employer's failure to timely report an injury to the carrier within 30 days. The court held that the carrier has independent rights to assert valid defenses regardless of the employer's knowledge or lack of prejudice.
The court held that there is no basis for excusing the claimant's failure to timely report his injury. The carrier has independent rights to assert valid defenses, including the failure to give prompt notice, which cannot be waived by the employer regardless of the employer's knowledge or the carrier's prejudice.
[1] An employer's knowledge of an employee's hernia injury does not excuse the employee's failure to provide timely notice to the carrier when the employer is also the claima…
[2] A lengthy delay in reporting an injury to the carrier may preclude prompt and effective investigation, thus prejudicing the carrier.
Previewing 2 of 3 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“The carrier had an independent right to assert valid defenses, which right could not be waived at the whim of the employer.”
Establishes that the carrier's right to assert statutory defenses is independent of the employer's actions or agreements
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA self-employed claimant suffered a hernia injury and failed to report it to the carrier within the statutory 30-day period. The claimant testified th…
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PER CURIAM.
Appellants challenge the finding of the judge of industrial claims that the employer (a self-employed claimant) had knowledge of his hernia injury and the carrier had not been prejudiced by claimant’s failure to give notice of his injury within 30 days.
From our examination of the record, we find no basis for excusing claimant’s failure to timely report his injury. In Rand Millwork and Supply Company and Allstate Insurance Company v. Harry Rand, IRC Order 2-3538 (September 12, 1978), the Industrial Relations Commission stated:
The statutory placement of the employer in the shoes of the carrier, and vice versa, is not total, final and binding in each and every instance. There can be instances where their interest(s) in the cause become so divergent that one no longer can speak for or bind the other. In Brent v. [*DCCCLXXII] Brent, 107 So. 2d 181 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1958) the employer’s wife was an employee, and filed a claim for benefits under the workmen’s compensation act. The employer-husband, among other things, attempted to waive certain defenses otherwise available to the carrier which waiver was rejected by the trial judge, affirmed by the then Florida Industrial Commission, and ultimately upheld by the District Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, which denied certiorari in 112 So. 2d 9 (Fla.1959). It was therein held, among other things, that the carrier had an independent right to assert valid defenses, which right could not be waived at the whim of the employer. Accord: Vibrations, Inc. and Home Indemnity Company v. Nora Schaffer, IRC Order 2-3723 (February 27, 1979).
In the instant case, the testimony was that claimant knew injuries were supposed to be reported within thirty (30) days but was too busy to report. The lengthy delay in giving notice to the carrier precluded any prompt or effective investigation of the accident to establish the statutory requirements. F.S. § 440.15(6).
Accordingly, the order is reversed and the claim dismissed.
McCORD, Acting C. J., and SHAW and WENTWORTH, JJ., concur.
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Gomez Lawn Serv., Inc. v. THE Hartford, 98 So. 3d 212 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012)…ference to section 440.41(1)); Vicki’s Styling, Inc. v. Moberg, 489 So. 2d 194, 195 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986) (holding self-employed claimant/employer’s alleged “authorization” of medical treatment would not be imputed to carrier); Alphes Enters, v. Dean, 377 So. 2d 791, 791-92 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979) (reversing judge’s finding that carrier had not been prejudiced by self-employed claimant/employer’s failure to give notice of injury within thirty days); Brent v. Brent, 107 So. 2d 181, 181-82 (Fla. 3d DCA 1958) (affirmi…
Authorities Cited
- Brent v. Brent, 107 So. 2d 181 (Fla. 3d DCA 1958)
- Edwards v. Young, 112 So. 2d 9 (Fla. 1959)
- Davis v. State, 112 So. 2d 9 (Fla. 1959)