Deep South Products v. Special Disability Trust Fund

District Court of Appeal of Florida

Deep South Products v. Special Disability Trust Fund

675 So. 2d 191, 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 5474, 1996 WL 280013

CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida

DecidedMay 29, 1996

DocketNo. 95-3156

StatusPublished

This text of 675 So. 2d 191 (Deep South Products v. Special Disability Trust Fund) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Deep South Products v. Special Disability Trust Fund, 675 So. 2d 191, 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 5474, 1996 WL 280013 (Fla. Ct. App. 1996).

Pincite

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

The employer/earrier appeal a workers’ compensation order by which a claim for reimbursement from the Special Disability Trust Fund was denied as untimely. We conclude that the claim was timely filed in accordance with Special Disability Trust v. F. Benson & Co., 626 So.2d 1078 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993).

As established in F. Benson, the extended filing period in section 440.49(2)(g), Florida Statutes (1987), applies to the employer/carrier’s reimbursement claim insofar as the claim remained viable when this statutory enactment became effective. The shorter filing period in section 440.49(2)(g), Florida Statutes (1985), which was in effect on the. date of accident, thus does not pertain in this case except as it confirms the viability of the reimbursement claim when section 440.49(2)(g), Florida Statutes (1987), took effect. Because the employer/carrier’s claim was then viable, and was thereafter filed within the period allowed under the non-claim provision in section 440.49(2)(g), Florida Statutes (1987), it should have been deemed timely.

The ruling in F. Benson is not undermined by the later enactment of section 440.49(12), Florida Statutes (Supp.1994), which provides that the applicable law “for the purposes of determining entitlement to reimbursement” is the law in effect on the date of accident. This provision was enacted in connection with various statutory changes to the criteria for reimbursement. See ch. 93^415, § 43, Laws of Florida. We do not construe section 440.49(12), Florida Statutes (Supp.1994), as addressing the filing period within which such rights may be invoked. Indeed, such an application of section 440.49(12), Florida Statutes (Supp.1994), would be constitutionally impermissible in this case, as it would have the effect of extinguishing an existing claim. See In re Estate of Jelley, 360 So.2d 1313 (Fla. 2d DCA), cert. denied, 366 So.2d 881 (Fla.1978).

The appealed order is reversed, and the case is remanded.

BARFIELD, ALLEN and KAHN, JJ., concur.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

PER CURIAM.

The employer/earrier appeal a workers’ compensation order by which a claim for reimbursement from the Special Disability Trust Fund was denied as untimely. We conclude that the claim was timely filed in accordance with Special Disability Trust v. F. Benson & Co., 626 So.2d 1078 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993).

As established in F. Benson, the extended filing period in section 440.49(2)(g), Florida Statutes (1987), applies to the employer/carrier’s reimbursement claim insofar as the claim remained viable when this statutory enactment became effective. The shorter filing period in section 440.49(2)(g), Florida Statutes (1985), which was in effect on the. date of accident, thus does not pertain in this case except as it confirms the viability of the reimbursement claim when section 440.49(2)(g), Florida Statutes (1987), took effect. Because the employer/carrier’s claim was then viable, and was thereafter filed within the period allowed under the non-claim provision in section 440.49(2)(g), Florida Statutes (1987), it should have been deemed timely.

The ruling in F. Benson is not undermined by the later enactment of section 440.49(12), Florida Statutes (Supp.1994), which provides that the applicable law “for the purposes of determining entitlement to reimbursement” is the law in effect on the date of accident. This provision was enacted in connection with various statutory changes to the criteria for reimbursement. See ch. 93^415, § 43, Laws of Florida. We do not construe section 440.49(12), Florida Statutes (Supp.1994), as addressing the filing period within which such rights may be invoked. Indeed, such an application of section 440.49(12), Florida Statutes (Supp.1994), would be constitutionally impermissible in this case, as it would have the effect of extinguishing an existing claim. See In re Estate of Jelley, 360 So.2d 1313 (Fla. 2d DCA), cert. denied, 366 So.2d 881 (Fla.1978).

The appealed order is reversed, and the case is remanded.

BARFIELD, ALLEN and KAHN, JJ., concur.

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)

675 So. 2d 191, 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 5474, 1996 WL 280013, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/deep-south-products-v-special-disability-trust-fund-fladistctapp-1996.

Opinion

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack