South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers Blog
In Limith v. Lenox on the Lake, an employee was injured in a Florida workplace accident. As a result, she filed a petition for benefits in 2011. A Judge of Compensation Claims (“JCC”) later dismissed the petition but reserved jurisdiction over the employee’s claim for legal fees and costs. In 2013, the JCC denied the employer’s request to dismiss the worker’s claim for lack of prosecution. Next, the employee sought a follow-up medical visit related to her workplace injury. Although the JCC denied the worker’s request, he also rejected the employer’s affirmative defense that the statute of limitations enumerated in Section 440.19 of the Florida Statutes had expired. After that, both parties filed an appeal with Florida’s First District Court of Appeal.
$1 Million Florida Jury Verdict Overturned After Irrelevant and Prejudicial Evidence Admitted in Car Accident Case
In Hurtado v. DeSouza, a man filed a personal injury claim against another driver after the motorist allegedly struck his stopped vehicle from behind at a traffic light. Following the apparently minor crash, the man filed a personal injury action in a Florida court against the driver who hit his car. Although he initially denied liability, the motorist eventually admitted liability immediately prior to trial. As a result, only the issues of causation and damages were submitted to a jury.
At trial, the court allowed certain irrelevant and prejudicial evidence suggesting the defendant attempted to flee the scene of the crash to be admitted. Over the defendant’s objections, the court also allowed the plaintiff to offer evidence that the defendant’s delay in admitting liability for the accident caused him mental anguish, even though Florida law did not support a claim based on that theory. The court also allowed the plaintiff to testify that the motorist never apologized to him and that he suffered significant financial hardship, including home foreclosure, as a result of his injuries. Next, the trial court refused to declare a mistrial or issue a curative instruction. The following day, however, the court issued a directed verdict on the issue of mental anguish and read a curative instruction to the jury without objection from the plaintiff. Ultimately, the jury issued an award of more than $1 million in favor of the plaintiff.
Florida Appeals Court Refuses to Overturn Jury Verdict in Wrongful Death Lawsuit Where Decedent Was Not Wearing a Seat Belt
In Jones v. Alayon, a Florida driver was hit from behind by an off-duty police officer in a rear-end automobile collision. As a result of the impact, the man’s automobile struck a guard rail and rolled. The motorist was ejected from his car, and he landed on the roadway. Tragically, the driver was also hit by other vehicles after he landed on the pavement. As a result of the collision, the driver suffered an untimely death.
Following the fatal accident, the allegedly at-fault driver apparently fled the scene of the traffic wreck. He also reported that his vehicle was stolen before later admitting he was driving at the time of the deadly crash. The man was later incarcerated over the incident.
Florida Appeals Court Overturns Denial of Legal Fees in Workers’ Compensation Case
In Cuenca v. Nova Southeastern University, a Florida dental assistant was injured when she suffered a serious allergic reaction at work in 2013. According to the worker’s petition for benefits (“PFB”), the woman’s injury resulted after she came into contact with an adhesive spray during the course of her employment. As a result, the employee sought reimbursement for her resulting medical care and certain prescription medications.
After the worker filed her PFB, her employer changed servicing insurers. The employer also notified the woman that the previous insurance servicer had no further responsibility for her claim and the new insurer would handle her PFB going forward. In an order filed about two months after the dental assistant sought workers’ compensation benefits, a Judge of Compensation Claims (“JCC”) approved the employer’s change in servicing insurers.
Southern District of Florida Rules Cruise Ship Passenger Failed to Establish Negligence Following Injury Accident
In Poole v. Carnival Corp., a woman was allegedly injured while traveling aboard a cruise ship. According to the woman, she suffered serious harm when she walked into a glass door. Although the woman claimed she did not know if the door she walked into had a frame on it, a handle installed, or a sticker strip to increase visibility, the woman admitted that the area where she was hurt was well lit. A representative for the ship’s owner offered testimony that the glass door at issue had a metal handle and door frame installed. In addition, the representative claimed the door also included a sign that read “push” and a sticker strip across the width of the door installed at waist level. The cruise ship security officer who investigated the woman’s injury accident also stated there was a sticker strip installed in the middle of the door at the time of the incident.
Florida Court Refuses to Dismiss First-Party Bad-Faith Claim Filed Against Auto Insurer
In Baham v. Property & Casualty Insurance Co. of Hartford, a motorist was involved in a traffic wreck that was apparently caused by another driver. At the time of the crash, the at-fault driver carried $25,000 in bodily injury liability insurance. Since this amount was allegedly insufficient to cover the motorist’s injuries and lost wages, the man filed a request for the full amount of his uninsured motorist (“UM”) policy limits of $200,000 from his own automobile insurer. The man’s insurer denied coverage and claimed his accident injuries did not exceed the limits of the at-fault driver’s bodily injury policy.
Next, the hurt motorist filed a Civil Remedy Notice of Insurer Violation (“CRN”) with his insurance company and the Florida Department of Financial Services. According to the man, the insurer refused to settle his valid claims. In response, the insurance company stated the evidence it received did not support the hurt man’s claim and requested any additional information that was available in order to continue to evaluate the insured’s claim. About two years later, the insurer agreed to pay the man $100,000 in UM benefits and stated the amount constituted the insured’s full UM policy limits. After that, the injured motorist filed a second CRN as well as a lawsuit against his insurance company seeking the remaining $100,000 in UM benefits he believed he was entitled to.
Florida Appeals Court Holds Policy History is Irrelevant Where PIP Insurance was Cancelled for Nonpayment
In Government Employees Insurance Company v. Kisha, a Florida couple purchased automobile insurance from an insurer for a designated policy period of December 2010 through June 2011. In lieu of making one premium payment, the couple opted to make recurring monthly payments to the company. After the couple failed to pay their March 2011 premium, the insurer mailed them a notice of cancellation for nonpayment effective April 20. In addition, the notice stated the company would not cancel the couple’s auto policy if the past due premium was received or postmarked by this date.
The husband apparently wrote a check to the couple’s insurer on April 17, but the past due payment did not reach the postal service until April 25th. On May 8th, both members of the couple were apparently hurt in a rear-end car accident. Following treatment, each filed a claim for personal injury protection (“PIP”) benefits from the auto insurance company. Next, the insurer sent each member of the couple a reservation of rights letter stating they lacked motor vehicle insurance coverage on the date of the collision due to nonpayment. In response, the wife filed a lawsuit against the auto insurer.
Florida Appellate Court Overturns Order Denying Temporary Total Disability Workers’ Compensation Benefits
In Perez v. Southeastern Freight Lines, Inc., a Florida man was injured in a workplace accident. After the incident occurred, the man’s employer stipulated that his injury was compensable under state workers’ compensation laws. Despite this, a Judge of Compensation Claims (“JCC”) denied the injured worker’s request for temporary total disability benefits because he failed to produce objective medical evidence related to his injury. At a hearing, the JCC adopted the test enumerated in Section 440.09(1) of the Florida Statutes which stated the worker’s disability determination must be based on such evidence.
Next, the employee appealed the JCC’s decision to Florida’s First District Court of Appeals. On appeal, the hurt man stated the JCC applied the wrong legal test when considering his worker’s compensation claim. The employee argued that Section 440.09 of the Florida Statutes instead applied to his case because it governed compensability in the workers’ compensation context. Since the worker’s employer stipulated to compensability, the employee claimed the JCC’s order should be overturned.
Appeals Court Overturns Jury Verdict in Florida Failure to Warn Lawsuit
In Trek Bicycle Corp. v. Miguelez, a Florida man apparently sustained personal injuries when the road bicycle he was riding suddenly stopped after an unspecified object became caught in the spokes. As a result of his harm, the man filed a failure to warn, products liability, and defective design and manufacture lawsuit against the manufacturer of the bicycle and the store that sold it to him in a Florida court. Although the bicycle manufacturer obtained a directed verdict regarding the hurt man’s other claims, the trial court declined to issue judgment in the company’s favor with regard to the man’s failure to warn cause of action. As a result, the lawsuit proceeded to a jury trial.
At trial, the hurt man claimed he would not have suffered harm if the bike company had placed a warning sticker stating the carbon forks could potentially crack or fail on the device. Following a jury trial, the injured bicyclist was awarded $800,000.00 in damages as a result of the bike manufacturer’s negligent failure to warn. Still, jurors opted not to issue a verdict against the bicycle retailer.
Tampa Federal Court Holds Insurer Did Not Commit Bad Faith Following Motorcycle Accident
In Rodriguez v. Integon Indemnity Corp., a motorcycle rider was seriously injured in a motor vehicle collision. At the time of the crash, the at-fault driver carried bodily injury insurance with a liability limit of up to $100,000 per person and $300,000 per incident. The day after the traffic wreck, the insurer was notified about the accident. A few days later, the claims representative who was assigned to the case sent a letter to the hurt biker stating he would be handling the injured man’s claim. In addition, the insurer sent two letters to the hurt motorcyclist’s attorney stating the company would settle the man’s claim for the full policy limits of $100,000. In both letters, the insurance company misstated the injured man’s first name but provided the appropriate claim number and date of loss.
Less than two weeks after the traffic wreck, the at-fault driver’s insurer sent a proposed release form and a check for $100,000 to the motorcyclist’s lawyer. An accompanying letter asked the man to hold the check in trust until an agreed-upon release could be executed. After the insurer unsuccessfully attempted to contact the law firm on multiple occasions, the motorcyclist’s attorney filed a lawsuit against the at-fault driver and the owner of the vehicle that struck the biker.