construction accident attorney

Report: Florida Workplace Deaths Rise Faster Than National Rate

April 8, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Nationally, workplaces are getting safer. The chances of dying on-the-job have decreased across the board.

But in Florida, there is actually a different trend being realized. According to The Orlando Sentinel, workplaces in the Sunshine state are becoming less safe.

In the most recent year-long reporting period, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the rate of Florida’s workplace fatalities climbed from a rate of 2.7 for every 1,000 full-time workers to 3.1 for every 1,000 workers. Meanwhile, the national fatality rate nationwide dropped, from 3.43 to 3.38. Continue reading ›

Vasquez v. American Cas. Co. of Reading – UIM Benefits Conflict With Workers’ Compensation

November 6, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Two important types of injury insurance most working Americans should have are: Workers’ compensation and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage. The first provides no-fault coverage of medical bills and lost wages in the event one is injured on-the-job. The second provides coverage for the wrongful acts of negligent drivers who don’t have enough insurance to cover the full extent of an injured person’s medical bills and other losses.

In cases where both types of coverage apply, plaintiffs need to know that they are not entitled to double recovery. That is, they can’t collect compensation for medical bills from the workers’ compensation insurer and then also collect and keep it from the UIM carrier. Most insurance policies contain some type of offset provision whereby benefits are reduced by the amount paid to the insured by a legally liable third party. In some situations, insurers might assert something called “subrogation rights,” which means if you collect duplicate benefits from a third party, the insurer can file for a lien to collect those benefits.

It’s important when you have suffered an injury that may allow you to collect from multiple insurance companies that you hire a law firm with extensive experience. Failure to do so may result in missing out on certain benefits or being forced to repay benefits already collected from a third party. Continue reading ›

Westphal v. City of St. Petersburg – Injured Workers Win Big Before Florida Supreme Court

June 15, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

The Florida Supreme Court has struck down a 2003 legislative change to state workers’ compensation law arbitrarily cutting off temporary total disability benefits after 104 weeks, opting instead to reinstate the previous law, which allowed such benefits to be paid out for a maximum of five years.

The ruling was a huge victory for injured workers in Florida, who have been victimized by numerous efforts to whittle away their workers’ compensation protections.

Of course, that has not been a trend unique to Florida, as a recent ProPublica investigation revealed. Workers’ compensation is supposed to be a “grand bargain” between workers and their employers. It’s original intention was to reduce civil litigation between workers and their bosses by prohibiting the worker from filing an injury lawsuit against the company in exchange for expedient, no-fault benefits to cover medical bills and lost wages. But increasingly, lobbyists have successfully pressed for legislation that has tipped the scales more heavily in favor of the employers, leaving many workers struggling.

That’s why the decision in Westphal v. City of St. Petersburg was such an important one. It was actually the second of great importance before the court in as many months. Continue reading ›