PANAMA CITY STEVEDORING COMPANY, INCORPORATED, AND THE AMERICAN MUTUAL LIABILITY INSURANCE COMPANY
v.
MRS. GEORGIA PADGETT

Fla. | 1942-03-10
BROWN, C. J., BUFORD and ADAMS, JJ., concur.
149 Fla. 687 Florida Supreme Court (1942) Caution
Also reported at: 6 So. 2d 822
Cited by 51 cases

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Synopsis

Mrs. Georgia Padgett, mother of a deceased employee, claimed workers' compensation benefits as a dependent under Florida's Workman's Compensation Law. The Florida Supreme Court reversed the circuit court's judgment awarding benefits, holding that Padgett failed to demonstrate the requisite dependency on her deceased son at the time of his death.


Holding

Mrs. Padgett failed to establish dependency as required by the Workman's Compensation Law because she did not rely on the deceased for means of living; her main reliance was on her daughter, she had other means of support, and no substantial monetary contributions from the deceased were shown. Additionally, the circuit court's judgment lacked a foundation in evidence regarding the deceased's weekly wages, an essential element required by law.


Key Quotes

“It must be shown that the claimant is from physical or mental incapacity or lack of means, dependent on the deceased for support, that actual and substantial support must have been received by claimant from deceased, that such support must be shown to have been made regularly with reasonable expectation to be made in the future and that casual gifts at irregular intervals will not support a claim based on dependency.”

Establishes the legal standard for proving dependency under the Workman's Compensation Law

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Facts & Procedural History

William Padgett, an employee of Panama City Stevedoring Company, was accidentally killed in February 1939. His mother, Mrs. Georgia Padgett, applied f…

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Opinion of the Court
TERRELL, J.:

TERRELL, J.:

In February, 1939, while in the employment of Panama City Stevedoring Company, William Padgett was accidentally killed. His mother, Mrs. Georgia Padgett, applied for compensation under the Workman’s Compensation Law but her claim was denied by the Deputy Commissioner. The decision of the Deputy Commissioner was reviewed and affirmed by the Florida Industrial Commission but on appeal to the circuit court, the latter judgment was reversed. This appeal is from the judgment of the circuit court.

It is admitted that the question presented here is whether or not appellee is entitled to the compensation claimed and that such question turns on that of whether or not she was a dependent of William Padgett at the time of his death as contemplated by the Workman’s Compensation Law.

The Florida Workman’s Compensation Law does not define who are dependents entitling them to compensation thereunder. The decided current of opinion on this point is to the effect that the question of who are dependents is one of fact to be determined by the circumstances of the case. It is settled law that depend*689ency is not supported by moral or statutory obligation of the child to support the parent. It must be shown that the claimant is from physical or mental incapacity or lack of means, dependent on the deceased for support, that actual and substantial support must have been received by claimant from deceased, that such support must be shown to have been made regularly with reasonable expectation to be made in the future and that casual gifts at irregular intervals will not support a claim based on dependency.

The record shows that at the time the claim was made and for eighteen years prior thereto, the claimant made her home with a daughter, Miss Gladys Padgett, at Marianna, Florida, who was her main dependence for support, that besides the deceased, she had a daughter living in Panama City where she visited about three weeks each year and divided that time between said daughter and the deceased, and that deceased furnished her food and entertainment when she visited him. Some casual gifts are shown to have been made by the deceased to the claimant but no contributions of money are shown to have been made by him, nor is it shown that she ever entertained the idea of living with him permanently or relying on him for support. It is shown that she was receiving an old age pension at the time the claim was made and that she owned a home from which she received a modest rental.

Some of the authorities hold that the ultimate test of dependency is reliance by the claimant on the employee’s contributions for means of living having regard to the dependent’s class and position in life and actual contribution for that purpose. Measured by the test here prescribed, which accords with the best rea*690soned opinions, we think the claimant fails to make out a case for dependency as contemplated by the statute. It is shown that her main reliance was on her daughter; she never relied on the-deceased, and had other means of support.

For this and the further reason that the finding of the circuit court is not supported by any evidence as to the weekly wages of deceased, an essential prerequisite as required by law, there was no basis to predicate a judgment in her favor so it must be and is hereby reversed.

Reversed.

BROWN, C. J., BUFORD and ADAMS, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By (19 total)

  • …d he less than $10 per week, a sum insufficient to support himself. Next, we must measure these facts by the applicable law to determine if they will support a finding of dependency of the claimant. In Panama City Stevedoring Co. v. Padgett, 1942, 149 Fla. 687, 6 So. 2d 822, at page 823, this Court speaking through Justice Terrell said: “The Florida Workmen’s Compensation Law does not define who are dependents entitling them to compensation thereunder. The decided current of opinion on this point is to t…
    1 / 2
  • …issed after the death of the husband and Mrs. Johnson secured employment which paid her eighteen or twenty dollars per week. Relying on these circumstances and the decision of this Court in Panama City Stevedoring Company, Inc., et al., v. Padgett, 149 Fla. 687, 6 So. (2nd) 822, appellees contend that the judgment below should be affirmed. They say that appellants were not dependents as defined in the last cited case and are therefore not entitled to recover under Workmn’s Compensation. This was the theory…
  • …and that such support must be shown to have been made regularly with reasonable expectation to be made in the future, and that casual gifts at irregular intervals will not support a claim based on dependency. Panama City Stevedoring Co. v. Padgett, 149 Fla. 687, 6 So. 2d 822, 823 (1942). The test is whether the claimant relies on the contributions to maintain his or her customary standard of living and, whether in the absence of continuance of support, the lifestyle of the claimant would be materially alte…

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