Cases

Attorney's fees claimed under Section 57.105, Florida Statutes, are not awardable in workers' compensation proceedings before a JCC. The Florida Workers' Compensation Law sets forth in Chapter 440 the liability of an employer thereunder as exclusive and in place of all of other liability to an injured employee.  There are a host of specific sanctions and remedies which includes attorney's fees for frivolous claims and defenses under Section 440.32, Florida Statutes. Section 57.105 contains no suggestion of legislative intent to include workers' compensation cases in this award of attorney's fees.  Section 57.105, Florida Statutes, only applies to an award of reasonable attorney's fees for baseless claims and defenses raised in administrative proceedings pursuant to Chapter 120, Florida Statutes.  There is no similar amendment to Section 57.105(5), Florida Statutes, that would expressly include workers' compensation cases.  Under the doctrine inclusio unius est exclusio alterius, an inference must be drawn that the Legislature did not intend to include workers' compensation proceedings within Section 57.105, Florida Statutes.  Court determined that JCC properly denied claimant's award of attorney's fees under Section 57.105, Florida Statutes.

JCC improperly denied claimant reimbursement for any and all of the costs for two videotaped depositions.  A denial of costs is subject to review under an abuse of discretion standard. 

The JCC in this case denied the cost of videotaping the depositions without proof that the witnesses would be unavailable to testify live at the final hearing.  The JCC did not consider the reasonableness of claimant's strategic decision to videotape the testimony of adverse witnesses who might later testify and be cross examined using the videotaped depositions.  This was the correct standard for determining if the cost for the videographer could be awarded.  The standard was not a showing that the claimant must prove that the witnesses could not appear at the trial.  Even though the videotaped depositions might be used in subsequent civil proceedings against the employer, they still could be taxable costs.  Costs incurred exclusively for a purpose unrelated to the workers' compensation claim would not be reimbursable; however, the fact that the depositions may ultimately serve a dual purpose is not enough to preclude the associated expenses as a reasonable cost in the pursuit of workers' compensation benefits.