Florida Senate - 2010                                    SB 1448
       
       
       
       By Senator Thrasher
       
       
       
       
       8-01673-10                                            20101448__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to state reciprocity in workers’
    3         compensation claims; amending s. 440.09, F.S.;
    4         exempting certain employees working in this state and
    5         the employers of such employees from the Workers’
    6         Compensation Law of this state under certain
    7         conditions; providing requirements for the
    8         establishment of prima facie evidence that the
    9         employer carries certain workers’ compensation
   10         insurance; requiring courts to take judicial notice of
   11         the construction of certain laws; providing an
   12         effective date.
   13  
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Paragraph (e) is added to subsection (1) of
   17  section 440.09, Florida Statutes, to read:
   18         440.09 Coverage.—
   19         (1) The employer must pay compensation or furnish benefits
   20  required by this chapter if the employee suffers an accidental
   21  compensable injury or death arising out of work performed in the
   22  course and the scope of employment. The injury, its occupational
   23  cause, and any resulting manifestations or disability must be
   24  established to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, based
   25  on objective relevant medical findings, and the accidental
   26  compensable injury must be the major contributing cause of any
   27  resulting injuries. For purposes of this section, “major
   28  contributing cause” means the cause which is more than 50
   29  percent responsible for the injury as compared to all other
   30  causes combined for which treatment or benefits are sought. In
   31  cases involving occupational disease or repetitive exposure,
   32  both causation and sufficient exposure to support causation must
   33  be proven by clear and convincing evidence. Pain or other
   34  subjective complaints alone, in the absence of objective
   35  relevant medical findings, are not compensable. For purposes of
   36  this section, “objective relevant medical findings” are those
   37  objective findings that correlate to the subjective complaints
   38  of the injured employee and are confirmed by physical
   39  examination findings or diagnostic testing. Establishment of the
   40  causal relationship between a compensable accident and injuries
   41  for conditions that are not readily observable must be by
   42  medical evidence only, as demonstrated by physical examination
   43  findings or diagnostic testing. Major contributing cause must be
   44  demonstrated by medical evidence only.
   45         (e)1. An employee from another state and the employer of
   46  the employee in the other state are exempt from the provisions
   47  of this chapter while the employee is temporarily in this state
   48  doing work for the employer if:
   49         a. The employer has furnished workers’ compensation
   50  insurance coverage under the workers’ compensation insurance or
   51  similar laws of the other state to cover the employee’s
   52  employment while in this state;
   53         b. The extraterritorial provisions of this chapter are
   54  recognized in the other state; and
   55         c. Employees and employers who are covered in this state
   56  are likewise exempted from the application of the workers’
   57  compensation insurance or similar laws of the other state.
   58         2. The benefits under the workers’ compensation insurance
   59  or similar laws of the other state, or other remedies under
   60  similar law, are the exclusive remedy against the employer for
   61  any injury, whether resulting in death or not, received by the
   62  employee while working for that employer in this state.
   63         3. A certificate from the duly authorized officer of the
   64  labor department or similar department of another state
   65  certifying that the employer of the other state is insured
   66  therein and has provided extraterritorial coverage insuring
   67  employees while working in this state is prima facie evidence
   68  that the employer carries that workers’ compensation insurance.
   69         4. An employer from another state who meets the
   70  requirements of this paragraph is not subject to the
   71  requirements of ss. 440.10(1)(g) and 440.38(7).
   72         5. Whenever in any appeal or other litigation the
   73  construction of the laws of another jurisdiction is required,
   74  the courts shall take judicial notice of such construction of
   75  the laws of the other jurisdiction.
   76         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.