29 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C276a THE TRAVELERS INDEMNITY COMPANY OF CONNECTICUT, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. RICHARD MCKENZIE & SONS, INC., HERMANNS REAL ESTATE VENTURES, LLC, Defendants-Appellants. 11th Circuit. Case No. 18-13172. August 26, 2021. Appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida (No. 8:17-cv-02106-SDM-CPT). (Before BRANCH, TJOFLAT, and ED CARNES, Circuit Judges.) […]
Articles
Torts — Dog owner’s liability — Directed verdict — Action for damages under section 767.01 by plaintiff who alleged that defendant’s dog, whom plaintiff and his wife had agreed to watch, caused both physical and neurological injuries when dog ran up behind plaintiff and knocked him down, rendering him immediately unconscious — Trial court erred in granting plaintiff’s motion to set aside verdict in favor of defendant and plaintiff’s motion for directed verdict where whether plaintiff had been injured in incident involving defendant’s dog and extent of his injuries were hotly contested at trial and inconsistencies in plaintiff’s version of events placed his credibility at issue — Directed verdict reversed — New trial — Order granting new trial on damages after entering directed verdict on issue of liability must also be reversed — Remand for reinstatement of jury’s verdict and entry of judgment in accordance with that verdict
46 Fla. L. Weekly D2100a RICHARD FANNIN, Appellant, v. ACE HUNTER, Appellee. 1st District. Case No. 1D19-4293. September 22, 2021. On appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County. Adrian G. Soud, Judge. Counsel: Rhonda B. Boggess, Marks Gray, P.A., Jacksonville, for Appellant. Michael J. Korn, Korn & Zehmer, P.A., Jacksonville; Joshua A. Woolsey and […]
Workers’ compensation — One-time change of physician — Choice of physician — Judge of compensation claims did not err by preserving employer/carrier’s right to select alternative physician after concluding that e/c’s prior alternative physician selection was unreasonable based on the distance between alternative physician’s office and claimant’s residence — Argument that e/c forfeited its right to select physician by failing to timely provide an alternate physician was not preserved for appeal — Even if argument was properly raised, argument fails on the merits where it is undisputed that e/c provided timely authorization of alternate physician, and claimant never complained that he was not provided with appointment dates
46 Fla. L. Weekly D2055a JAMES HARMAN, Appellant, v. MERCHANT TRANSPORT, CCMSI, Appellees. 1st District. Case No. 1D19-4071. September 15, 2021. On appeal from an order of the Judge of Compensation Claims. Carol J. Stephenson, Judge. Date of Accident: May 16, 2017. Counsel: Matthew Carrillo of The Law Firm of Carrillo & Carrillo, P.A., Gainesville, […]
Workers’ compensation — Law enforcement officers — Compensable injuries — Hypertension — Causation — Judge of compensation claims did not err by denying compensability for claimant’s essential hypertension based on conclusion that the undisputed evidence of secondary hypertension in claimant’s pre-employment physical examination precluded claimant’s reliance on presumption of occupational causation provided by section 112.18 for an essential hypertension claim — Under the plain language of the statute, evidence of secondary hypertension on a PEP may preclude a claimant’s use of the presumption of section 112.18 for essential hypertension
46 Fla. L. Weekly D2057a JOSHUA HOLCOMBE, Appellant, v. CITY OF NAPLES/JOHNS EASTERN COMPANY, INC., Appellees. 1st District. Case No. 1D20-565. September 15, 2021. On appeal from an order of the Judge of Compensation Claims. Jack A. Weiss, Judge. Date of Accident: August 6, 2018. Counsel: Jason L. Fox, Oliver & Fox, P.A., Tampa, for […]
Torts — Negligence — Causation — Evidence — Experts — Qualifications — Timeliness of challenge — Action alleging that defendant landlord’s negligence caused plaintiff tenants to be exposed to dangerous mold during pregnancy, resulting in plaintiffs’ child being born with one kidney and brain damage — No error in determining that defendant’s Daubert challenge, which sought to exclude plaintiff’s causation expert’s testimony, was timely — Although defendant waited approximately 230 days after deposing expert before challenging expert’s testimony, defendant’s motion was filed before the deadline provided in pretrial scheduling order — Plaintiffs were not prejudiced by the delay where trial court held a hearing on the motion two weeks prior to pretrial conference and plaintiffs failed to request a continuance to acquire a new expert or request another form of relief from trial court — Trial court did not abuse its discretion by excluding expert’s testimony — Expert, whose specialty was obstetrics and gynecology, was not qualified to testify as to causation because he lacked experience and knowledge to connect mold to child’s medical conditions
46 Fla. L. Weekly D2054a JACQUELINE HUGGINS, individually, and with ALEXANDER HUGGINS, as Mother and Father and Next Friends of A.R.H., a minor child, Appellants, v. JEFFREY SIEGEL, Appellee. 1st District. Case No. 1D19-3987. September 15, 2021. On appeal from the Circuit Court for Alachua County. Donna M. Keim, Judge. Counsel: Jordan S. Redavid of […]