Irving v. Ametek, Inc.

756 So. 2d 1045, 2000 Fla. App. LEXIS 4194, 2000 WL 353479
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedApril 7, 2000
DocketNo. 97-2739
StatusPublished

This text of 756 So. 2d 1045 (Irving v. Ametek, Inc.) 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
Irving v. Ametek, Inc., 756 So. 2d 1045, 2000 Fla. App. LEXIS 4194, 2000 WL 353479 (Fla. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinions

VAN NORTWICK, J.

In this workers’ compensation appeal, Shiwana J. Irving seeks reversal of an order of the Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) which, primarily on the authority of Martin Co. v. Carpenter, 132 So.2d 400 (Fla.1961), denied Irving’s claim for indemnity and medical treatment on the ground that she had not been truthful regarding her medical history at the time she was hired. Irving argues that Martin has been overruled by the adoption of section 440.15(5)(a), Florida Statutes (1993); and,- alternatively, that, even if Martin has not been overruled, Martin should not serve as a bar to her claim, since there is no “causal relationship” shown between the prior medical condition that she failed to disclose in a preemployment questionnaire and the workplace. injury which: is the subject of the instant proceeding. Because we agree with the JCC that the Martin rule remains viable and we find competent substantial evidence to support the JCC’s finding that such a causal relationship did exist, we affirm.

Factual Background and Procedural History

Prior to employing Irving to work as an assembler, appellee Ametek, Inc., the employer, required Irving to answer a questionnaire regarding her medical history and to submit to a physical. Among other things, the questionnaire asked: “Do you now have or have you ever had any of the following: ... arm, hand or shoulder trouble.” If an applicant answered yes, the applicant was to provide additional information, such as -the date: of injury, name of the treating physician and hospital. Irving answered “no” to this question. The questionnaire further asked: “Have you ever had an injury on the job (worker’s compensation) that required treatment/medical care by a doctor?” Claimant again answered in the negative.

On November 18, 1995, on her third day of work, Irving reported to Ametek’s occupational nurse that she was experiencing pain in her right shoulder. A notice of injury was filed, and Irving was referred to her personal physician. She never returned to work. On February 19, 1997, she filed a petition for temporary total disability (TTD) benefits and temporary partial disability (TPD) benefits, impairment benefits as of the date of maximum medical improvement, and medical treatment. By that time, Irving had been examined by Paul Dell, M.D., who diagnosed impingement syndrome, and Robert Martinez, M.D., who diagnosed an inflamed tendon in the right shoulder.

As a defense, Ametek and National Union Fire (jointly the employer/carrier) alleged that Irving misrepresented her medical history and that the employer detrimentally relied on that misrepresentation. In support of such defense, Marc Newquist, M.D., testified that, in September 1994, before Irving’s employment at Ametek, Irving presented to a hospital emergency room for which he was on call and complained of right shoulder pain which occurred as she was packing and moving boxes at work. Dr. Newquist diagnosed muscle strain due to overuse.

At the hearing on her claim for workers’ compensation benefits, Irving testified that she was confused by certain questions on the employer’s questionnaire and that she circled those questions, including the questions related to her prior medical history quoted above. The original questionnaire completed by Irving was introduced into evidence, and it contained no circled questions. Further, the occupational nurse who was present while Irving completed the questionnaire testified that Irving did [1047]*1047not ask any questions about the questionnaire.

The JCC denied the claim in its entirety on the authority of section 440.15(5)(a), Florida Statutes (1993), and Martin, supra. In denying the claim, the JCC found that Irving had knowingly misrepresented herself, that the employer relied on that misrepresentation to its detriment, and that the prior undisclosed shoulder injury was causally related to the 1995 workplace injury.

Martin Co. v. Carpenter

In Martin, supra, the claimant had experienced back pain for approximately 20 years prior to her employment by the Martin Company, and sought medical treatment for her back condition on several occasions during those years. As a condition of her employment by the Martin Company, claimant was required to complete a questionnaire which asked if she had ever been subject to various diseases, including back injury or backache. To this question, claimant answered “no.” Martin, 132 So.2d at 401. Approximately seven months after beginning work for the Martin Company, following a change from seated work to employment requiring standing and bending over a table, claimant complained of increased back pain. She received treatment at the company’s first aid station and, later, by a physician. Claimant was then placed on a 90-day leave of absence because of her back condition and approximately 23 months after her initial employment by the Martin Company, she filed a claim for workers’ compensation and medical benefits. Id.

In Martin, in considering whether the claimant was precluded from receiving benefits because she had misrepresented her physical condition to her employer, the Supreme Court noted that the applicable Workers’ Compensation Act “was silent on the effect of false representations on the status of the employee in cases like this....” Id. at 406. Nevertheless, the court reasoned that the provisions of section 440.151(b), which precluded payment of benefits to employees who falsely represent in writing that the employee had not previously been disabled or compensated due to an occupational disease,

demonstrate a legislative determination that an employee who misrepresents in writing a fact material to a subsequent claim for compensation shall be precluded from the benefits of the Act.

Id. at 406. As a result, in furtherance of this legislative intent, the Martin court held as follows:

We therefore adopt the rule that a false representation as to a physical condition or health made by an employee in procuring employment will preclude the benefits of the Workmen’s Compensation Act for an otherwise compensable injury if there is shown to be a causal relationship between the injury and the false representation and if it is shown that (1) the employee knew the representation to be false, (2) the employer relied upon the false representation and (3) such reliance resulted in consequent injury to the employer.

Id.

As this court explained in Colonial Care Nursing Home v. Norton, 566 So.2d 44, 45-6 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990), an employee who has misrepresented a condition which is causally related to a subsequent claim for benefits has denied the employer the opportunity of making a choice as to whether or not to hire that particular employee notwithstanding the attendant risks. Martin does not, however, require a potential employee “to make a full, not specifically solicited, disclosure of all of his particular shortcomings,” Simmons v. Trinity Indus., 528 So.2d 1337, 1339 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988), or create a defense when the employer asks only “nonspecific broad questions as to physical condition on employment applications,” id. at 1339-40. It is undisputed in the instant case that the employer’s questionnaire included questions directed to specific physical conditions.

[1048]*1048 Section U0.15(5)(a)

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Bluebook (online)
756 So. 2d 1045, 2000 Fla. App. LEXIS 4194, 2000 WL 353479, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/irving-v-ametek-inc-fladistctapp-2000.