Disability Law

Murray v. Mariners Health - Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop

By David A. McCranie, Esq.

Of course, the case on everyone's mind since I last posted is one that hasn't yet been decided - Murray v. Mariners Health, the case in which the Supreme Court of Florida is considering the validity of the 2003 amendment to §440.34, Fla. Stat.

The court held oral argument on 4/9/2008.  Over the years, I've concluded that it's oftentimes dangerous to try to guess the outcome of a case based upon the questions coming from the bench.  Nevertheless, I'll venture a guess here.  Judging from the justices' questions to counsel, it seems to me that the court is poised to strike down this amendment.  I'm less certain about whether they might do so on the basis of statutory construction or on constitutional grounds.  Despite the fact that they had declined to consider the statutory construction question in several previous cases (Wood v. Florida Rock Industries; Lundy v. Four Seasons; Campbell v Aramark); they seemed particularly interested in this argument here.  You can watch the oral argument by clicking below and judge for yourself (Windows Media Player required):

mms://146.201.215.129/Archives3wm/07-244.wmv

Full post as published by Florida Workers’ Compensation Law Blog on May 05, 2008 (boomark / email).