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Fla. L. Weekly D1385aTop of Form

Workers’
compensation — Judge of compensation claims departed from essential
requirements of law and caused irreparable harm by dismissing, for lack of
jurisdiction, a petition for benefits in which claimant challenged as
unconstitutional the statutory cap on weekly compensation rate set out in
section 440.12(2)

JULIO A. JIMINEZ, Petitioner, v.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE and LIBERTY MUTUAL, Respondents. 1st District. Case No.
1D16-4959. Opinion filed June 19, 2017. Petition for Writ of Certiorari —
Original Jurisdiction. Counsel: Mark L. Zientz of the Law Offices of Mark L.
Zientz, P.A., Miami, for Petitioner. Raoul G. Cantero, David P. Draigh, and
Quinshawna S. Landon of White & Case LLP, Miami; Matthew J. Lavisky and David
B. Krouk of Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP, Tampa; Brian S. Bartley of The
Chartwell Law Offices, LLP, Fort Myers, for Respondents.

(PER CURIAM.) In this workers’
compensation case, Petitioner filed a petition for certiorari review of an
order of the Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) which dismissed his Petition
for Benefits (PFB) for lack of jurisdiction. In that PFB, Petitioner challenged
as unconstitutional the statutory cap on the weekly compensation rate set out
in subsection 440.12(2), Florida Statutes (2014). Petitioner argues that the
order dismissing his PFB, without affording him the opportunity to create a
record for review in this court, resulted in irreparable harm and departed from
the essential requirements of law. We agree. See Russ v. Brooksville
Health Care Ctr., 109 So. 3d 1266, 1268 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013) (concluding,
where claimant raised constitutional challenge, “JCC departed from the
essential requirements of law, and caused irreparable harm by denying
Claimant’s motion for an evidentiary hearing”).

The Petition is GRANTED, and the
order dismissing the PFB is QUASHED. (ROBERTS, C.J., WINOKUR, and M.K. THOMAS,
JJ., CONCUR.)

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