Understanding Florida’s Workers’ Compensation Laws
Did you know that you may be covered under Florida’s Workers’ Compensation Laws for injuries which were not a result of one single, identifiable event; but rather, injuries which developed as a result of repetitive, physical stress and trauma on the job?
Although Florida Law defines a workers’ compensation injury as a sudden and unexpected event in the course and scope of employment, the law has evolved over the years to recognize that there are other ways in which an employee may sustain injuries on the job.
Over the last thirty years, the Courts have created the so-called “exposure doctrine”. Exposure and repetitive trivial trauma are compensable events if the injury worker can show all of the following: 1) prolonged exposure; 2) the cumulative effect of which is injury or aggravation of an pre-existing condition; 3) the job subjected the injured worker to a hazard greater that than to which the public is exposed. Festa v. Teleflex, Inc., 382 So. 2d 122 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980). Thus the “suddenness” requirement for compensability no longer applies.
Some of the classic examples are: an employee who continually is required to do heavy lifting day after day in which after time, his back goes out on him, sometimes requiring surgical intervention. Although the employee could not point to one signal event such as picking up a heavy wheel barrel which caused his back pain, he can certainly point to the fact that he continually lifts heavy items and bends over during the day.
Carpal tunnel syndrome, in which an employee’s hands grow painful and become weak, is typically the result of repetitive use of one’s hands, such as in data entry, working at the keyboard all day or a mechanic who works for the city water company who is required to use big wrenches all day to turn valves on and off.
We, as a personal injury lawyer, successfully represented a man who worked at junk yard in which he operated inside of a huge machine which lifted cars into the compactor all day. Overtime, his back became painful ultimately requiring an operation. He couldn’t point to a single event or day when he hurt his back. It was gradual and over time.
We have represented men who have worked in heavy construction equipment all of their lives in which they are jumbled around very violently while traversing uneven terrain which ultimately causes pain, and injury in their joints and spine.
What about a hairdresser who holds her arms above her customers heads all day long while standing on typically tile or wooden floors? Can it not be said that the neck, shoulder, arm, hand, even leg pain is the result of continually standing in a position with ones hand elevated during the day? The answer is most probably yes.
These are but some of the examples which we have encountered and successfully litigated at the Celeste Law Firm. If you or you know anyone who has suffered injury on the job as a result of repetitive trauma, please do not hesitate to contact us.
About Celeste Law Firm:
Celeste Law Firm, PA. is a full service litigation firm whose attorneys represent people who have been injured as a result of the negligence or wrongdoing of others and disabled in Social Security and Veterans’ Disability claims.
Suite 225, 580 Village Boulevard
W. Palm Beach, FL 33409
Tel: 561-478-5073
