06-5839 PATRICIA ROBERSON v. ST. JOHNS COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD and SPECIALTY RISK SERVICES, INC.

State: Florida

Court: Florida First District Court

Docket No: 06-5839

Case Date: 01/23/2008

Preview:IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL FIRST DISTRICT, STATE OF FLORIDA NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED

PATRICIA ROBERSON, Appellant, v. ST. JOHNS COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD and SPECIALTY RISK SERVICES, INC., Appellee. _____________________________/

CASE NO. 1D06-5839

Opinion filed January 23, 2008. An appeal from an order of the Judge of Compensation Claims. Ivy C. Harris, Judge. Mark L. Zientz and Andrea Cox of the Law Offices of Mark L. Zientz, P.A., Miami, for Appellant. Michael C. Crumpler of the Law Offices of Michael C. Crumpler, P.A., Jacksonville, for Appellee.

BROWNING, C.J. Appellant/Claimant challenges the denial of her workers' compensation

benefits. We reverse. Claimant's claim was accepted as compensable at first, but on February 14, 2002, the employer/carrier (E/C) denied the claim on the grounds that her disability was not a result of the job-related injury, but was instead related to a pre-existing condition; the Notice of Denial (form DWC-12) was sent to both Claimant and the Division of Workers' Compensation. The next day, E/C reported that Claimant's permanent injury rating was zero percent; the Notice of Action/Change (form DWC-4) was also sent to both Claimant and the Division of Workers' Compensation. Three weeks later, E/C received from Claimant's doctor a form indicating that Claimant had reached maximum medical improvement and had a ten percent permanent impairment rating; however, E/C did not send this Maximum Medical Improvement/Permanent Impairment Determination Certification (form DWC-9a) to either the Division of Workers' Compensation or Claimant, on the reasoning that the claim had already been denied in its entirety.1
1

E/C's adjuster testified as follows:

Q

A Q A Q

Other than the notice letter which was sent out to my client in the initial stages of the claim, did you ever send any other notice letters to my client subsequent to that? Notice of? Of anything. Well, we sent her the DWC-12 when we filed the Notice of Denial. Okay. 2

Eventually, Claimant learned about the ten percent rating and filed a petition for benefits (PFB) seeking permanent total disability benefits, which was barred by the statute of limitations. See

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