Florida Court Finds Workers' Compensation Statute Unconstitutional

Executive Summary: Circuit Judge Jorge E. Cueto of the 11th Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida has found that Section 440.11 of Florida's Workers' Compensation Act (the "Act"), which makes the Act the "exclusive" remedy available to injured workers, their spouses, children and their estates for injuries or death on the job, is unconstitutional because it does not provide adequate medical care for injured workers or dollars to replace lost wages for injured workers. In striking down the exclusive remedy provision of the Act, the court held that the 2003 amendments to the Act, which removed compensation for partial loss of wage earning capacity, made the Act an inadequate exclusive replacement remedy in place of common law tort claims as required by the 14th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution or by the Florida Constitution.

Background: Padgett, an injured worker residing in Florida, along with other petitioners (Florida Workers' Advocates and Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group) sought a declaration from the court as to whether workers' compensation as an injured worker's exclusive remedy is constitutional in exchange for a tort action. The court held that Padgett, as one of thousands of similarly situated injured workers in Florida, had standing...

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