Cases

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Federal court determined that the release language in a workers’ compensation settlement agreement between the employer and employee was not sufficiently clear to absolve the employer of a retaliatory discharge claim where it was not clear from the language of the release whether the employee intended to release his retaliatory discharge claim under Section 440.205, Florida Statutes. Under Florida law, a general release of benefits does not necessarily release a retaliatory discharge claim without evidence of intent by the claimant to do so. The court in this case did not say that a retaliatory discharge claim could never be disposed of through the use of a general settlement agreement in a workers’ compensation context. However, the facts in this case and the general release entered into did not support the ultimate conclusion that the settlement effectively settled the retaliatory discharge claim.