LOUIS DOMUTZ, PETITIONER,
v.
SOUTHERN BELL TELEPHONE & TELEGRAPH COMPANY, SELF-INSURED, AND THE FLORIDA INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION, RESPONDENTS

Fla. | 1976-11-12
No. 47932
OVERTON, C. J., and BOYD, SUND-BERG and HATCHETT, JJ., concur.
339 So. 2d 636 Florida Supreme Court (1976) Caution
Cited by 31 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

The appellate court reviewed a trial court's finding of ambiguity in an insurance policy's 'Other Medical Expense Coverage' provision, which had led to a summary judgment for the insured.


Holding

The appellate court disagreed with the trial court's finding of ambiguity, stating that the 'Other Medical Expense Coverage' provision should be construed according to its plain meaning.


Headnotes

[1] An employer is entitled to a credit against workmen's compensation benefits for pension benefits paid to an employee if the total benefits do not exceed the employee's av…

[2] The source of contribution to a pension plan is not the decisive factor in determining whether pension benefits should be credited against workmen's compensation benefits…

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Facts & Procedural History

An insured sought benefits under a major medical policy after his wife and daughter were injured in an accident. The insurer denied coverage, citing a…

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Opinion of the Court
ADKINS, Justice.

[*637] ADKINS, Justice.

This case is before us on petition for writ of certiorari to review an order of the Industrial Relations Commission which reversed a compensation order of the Judge of Industrial Claims in favor of petitioner Domutz.

Petitioner had a service-connected 40 per cent permanent partial disability of the body as a whole upon his employment by respondent Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company. During this period of employment petitioner suffered a compensable injury to his back in 1965, and while still recovering from this injury suffered an additional compensable injury to his back in 1967. The parties stipulated that petitioner was permanently and totally disabled as a result of his injuries. The Judge of Industrial Claims awarded petitioner permanent total disability, medical and hospital bills, costs and attorney’s fees and disallowed any setoff of disability compensation for pension benefits to which petitioner did not contribute. The Industrial Relations Commission reversed only that part of the award to petitioner wherein a setoff was disallowed for pension benefits paid to petitioner. The sole question for our decision here is whether an employer is entitled to a credit against workmen’s compensation benefits in the amount of pension benefits which petitioner received, but to which he had not contributed, where the total award including the pension benefits did not exceed petitioner’s average weekly wage.

As we determined in the case of Brown v. S. S. Kresge Company, Inc., 305 So. 2d 191, 194 (Fla.1974),

“[BJecause under a logical interpretation of the I.R.C. Rule 9 when an injured employee receives the equivalent of his full wages from whatever employer source that should be the limit of compensation to which he is entitled.”

There the issue was whether sick leave benefits provided by an employer should be credited against workmen’s compensation injury benefits, and we determined that the decisive factor was not who had contributed to the plan, but rather whether the combination of the benefits from the employer exceeded the claimant’s average weekly wage. It should be noted here that I.R.C. Rule 9 is now Rule 18, Workmen’s Compensation Rules of Procedure.

We are not faced here with a determination of whether pension benefits paid by the employer should be credited against workmen’s compensation benefits if, in fact, the total benefits awarded exceeded the average weekly wage.

Petitioner makes the point that his average weekly wage is $225.90, his corresponding workmen’s compensation rate is $42.00 per week, and his entitlement to pension benefits is $39.68 per week. It is patently obvious from these figures that his average weekly wage far exceeds the total benefits received from his employer. The compensation award, therefore, should not have been reversed in part on this basis under these circumstances.

Accordingly, the petition for writ of certiorari is granted, the order of the Industrial Relations Commission is quashed, and the cause remanded with instructions to reinstate the order of the Judge of Industrial Claims.

It is so ordered.

OVERTON, C. J., and BOYD, SUND-BERG and HATCHETT, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (16 total)

  • Barragan v. City OF Miami, 545 So. 2d 252 (Fla. 1989)
    …le was followed with respect to sick leave benefits, Brown v. S.S. Kresge Co., 305 So. 2d 191 (Fla.1974), and pension benefits, regardless of whether the employee contributed to the funding of these benefits. Domutz v. Southern Bell Tel. & Tel. Co., 339 So. 2d 636 (Fla.1976). However, the total benefits from all sources cannot exceed the employee’s weekly wage. Domutz; Brown. Originally, the rule was different with respect to public employees. In City of Miami v. Graham, 138 So. 2d 751 (Fla.1962), the Court…
  • Escambia Cnty. Sheriff's Dep't v. Grice, 692 So. 2d 896 (Fla. 1997)
    …r alone or in part by employee contributions. “However, the total benefits from all sources cannot exceed the employee’s weekly wage.” Id. at 254 (citing Brown v. S.S. Kresge Co., 305 So. 2d 191 (Fla.1974) and Domutz v. Southern Bell Tel & Tel. Co., 339 So. 2d 636 (Fla.1976)). Once the 100% cap has been reached, workers’ compensation must be reduced pursuant to section 440.20(15), Florida Statutes, which states: When an employee is injured and the employer pays his full wages or any part thereof during the p…
  • City OF Hollywood v. Lombardi, 770 So. 2d 1196 (Fla. 2000)
    …e Barragan, 545 So. 2d at 254 (citing Jewel Tea Co. v. Florida Indus. Comm’n, 235 So. 2d 289 (Fla.1969) (group insurance benefits)); Brown v. S.S. Kresge Co., 305 So. 2d 191 (Fla. 1974) (sick leave benefits); Domutz v. Southern Bell Tel. & Tel. Co., 339 So. 2d 636 (Fla.1976) (pension benefits). Although in Jewel Tea the employee contributed to the benefits, in Barragan we cited Domutz for the proposition that section 440.21 was applicable regardless of whether the employee contributed to the funding of these…

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