City of Maitland & Davies Claims North America, Inc. v. McGovern
A firefighter who had a stent placed and retired from Maitland in 2012 later worked for the Sanford Airport Authority, where his preemployment physical showed existing heart disease. When he filed for benefits against Maitland, Maitland sought to shift responsibility to the subsequent employer under the last injurious exposure rule of section 440.151(5). The First DCA affirmed the JCC's rejection of that defense, holding that where the section 112.18(1) heart-lung presumption does not apply to the later employment and no evidence connects the heart condition to that employment, the carrier cannot establish last injurious exposure.
Key facts
- A firefighter employed by the City of Maitland had a stent placed and retired in 2012, then later worked for the Sanford Airport Authority where his preemployment physical revealed existing heart disease.
- Maitland and its carrier sought to shift workers' compensation liability to the subsequent employer under the last injurious exposure rule of section 440.151(5).
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Why it matters
This opinion gives workers' compensation practitioners a clear rule on the intersection of the firefighter heart-lung presumption and the last injurious exposure rule: a prior employer cannot automatically shift… — full analysis with a trial
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