Voluntary Dismissal of Florida Workers' Compensation Claim Exposes Injured Worker to Payment of Employer's Costs
The First District Court of Appeals in the State of Florida in the case of Palm Beach County School District v. Francis Ferrer ruled that an injured worker's voluntary dismissal of a petition for benefits prior to the scheduled final merits hearing triggers the provision under F.S. 440.34(3) in Florida's workers' compensation laws which states: "If any party should prevail in any proceedings before a judge of compensation claims or court, there shall be taxed against the non-prevailing party the reasonable costs of such proceedings, not to include attorneys fees."
Applying the plain meaning rule of statutory construction the court stated "the prevailing party is entitled to the reasonable costs incurred in the proceedings before the judge of compensation claims. Whether the dismissal was taken with or without prejudice has no bearing on this result." Citing Thornber v. City of Fort Walton Beach, 568 So.2d 914 (Fla. 1990) the court went on to state that "A defendant generally becomes the prevailing party when a plaintiff dismisses its action."
This case could potentially have a chilling effect on injured workers by discouraging them from filing claims against their employers and insurance carriers for workers' compensation benefits due to a fear of having to pay the costs of the defense should they not prevail. While I think this may be a valid fear there are ways to avoid this exposure such as entering into an agreement with the employer/carrier for each party to bear its own costs should a voluntary dismissal be necessary or the filing of a Notice of Dropping Party rather than a voluntary dismissal in the case where the wrong employer or insurance carrier is identified in the petition for benefit.
