Florida: 3rd DCA Strikes Down “Padgett” Decision on Mootness and Standing Grounds

The Third District Court of Appeal has reversed the much-talked-about “Padgett” decision by Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County Judge Jorge Cueto, which last August declared unconstitutional the exclusive remedy provision of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Law—§ 440.11, Fla. Stat. Making its determination on two separate procedural grounds, the appellate court held that the case lacked essential elements of a justiciable controversy since it had no “identifiable and properly-joined defendant.” The court added that procedurally the case was not a “proper vehicle” for the trial court’s assessment of the constitutionality of § 440.11. Noting that the original defendant had dismissed its affirmative defense of workers’ compensation immunity, the appellate court said it was error to continue the case as “an intervenors-only exercise.” The court added that while the intervenors had “an economic interest” in establishing their clients’ rights to file tort claims, such an indirect interest did not confer standing upon them in the case.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is the co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance. Bracketed citations link to lexis.com.

See State of Florida v. Florida Workers’ Advocates, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 9531 (June 24, 2015) [2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 9531 (June 24, 2015)]

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 100.02 [100.02]

For a more detailed discussion of the case, see http://www.workcompwriter.com/florida-appellate-court-throws-out-judge-cuetos-padgett-decision-on-procedural-grounds/

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.

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