Florida Supreme Court Limits Workers’ Compensation Carrier/Adjuster Abuse

In my view, one of the most important decisions in the history of Florida workers’ compensation jurisprudence is Aguilera v. Inservices, Inc., 905 So.2d. 84 (Fla. 2005). In a nutshell, Aguilera authorized civil lawsuits against insurance carriers and their adjusters “for harm caused subsequent to and distinct from the original workplace injury.”

The Supreme Court opinion provides a great amount of detail about the harm to Mr. Aguillera caused by the insurance carrier’s adjuster, which I will not outline here. For purposes of this blog, suffice it to say that the adjuster made arbitrary, mean-spirited, baseless, and egregious decisions about medical matters which put Mr. Aguillera’s life at risk.

As a result, the insurance company and the adjuster were sued for civil damages in an action separate and apart from Mr. Aguillera’s workers’ compensation case. They defended by arguing that they were immune from being sued civilly, pursuant to Section 440.11, Florida Statutes, that any complaints about how the workers’ compensation claim was being handled must be addressed through the workers’ compensation case itself.

Although the 3rd District Court of Appeal agreed with the civil defendants, the Florida Supreme Court did not.

The Florida Supreme Court was careful to point out that its decision was not authorizing civil actions in cases involving simple claim delay or simple termination of workers’ compensation benefits. The court recognized that the workers’ compensation system had appropriate remedies for these situations. In other words, the civil remedy established by the court is limited to egregious and outrageous claims handling.

The importance of the decision is that carriers and adjusters know there is a line beyond which they cross at their own risk. This has induced them to handle claims very carefully and with due regard for the health of injured workers.

Aguilera has reduced dramatically the number of claims handled in bad faith, while allowing good faith disputes to be handled through the workers’ compensation system. A good result and a shining example of how the legal system works to help people.

It is noteworthy (and frightening, in my opinion) to consider that the Aguilera holding came on a 4-3 split decision. Not surprisingly, two of the three dissenting opinions were Jeb Bush appointees. Had one more Jeb Bush appointee been on the court when the Aguilera case was decided, there is some likelihood that the decision would have gone the other way, thus permitting the practice in Florida of outrageous and unconscionable workers’ compensation claims handling. It was that close.

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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. is a South Florida based law firm committed to the judicial system and to representing and obtaining justice for individuals – the poor, the injured, the forgotten, the voiceless, the defenseless and the damned, and to protecting the rights of such people from corporate and government oppression. We do not represent government, corporations or large business interests.

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