Cases

The appellate court reviews for competent and substantial evidence a JCC's ruling as to whether a claimant is entitled to temporary disability benefits. 

Claim was made in this instance for temporary partial benefits and the question was whether the claimant's unemployment status was causally related to the injuries/disabilities associated with the compensable accident.  Court determined that evidence of an unsuccessful job search is an alternate means by which a claimant may establish a causal relationship between a claimant's compensable injuries and the claimant's partial wage loss where the claimant is unable to establish that her compensable restrictions precluded adequate performance of her prior job.  A job search is not required when a claimant establishes that termination was caused by the claimant's inability to perform her job due to her compensable injuries.  The cause of the claimant's displacement from employment and wages, once established, remains the cause until an intervening or superceding cause is established.

In this case, the JCC had determined that, as a result of the claimant's workplace injuries, she was unable to successfully perform the task of her pre-injury job.  Accordingly, there was supporting evidence for the award of temporary partial benefits and the denial of such by the JCC was error.

There are express affirmative defenses to a claim for temporary partial disability benefits of which the employer/carrier bears the burden of persuasion.  One such defense is "misconduct".  See Section 440.15(4)(e), Florida Statutes.  In this case, the JCC rejected the employer/carrier's argument that the claimant was terminated for cause unrelated to her compensable injuries.