Put it in Practice March 2023: Monthly Tips for Florida WC Professionals

Firm News

Making Sure Your Preliminary Settlement “Sticks” — Document. Document. Document.

Florida is seeing more and more instances of “buyer’s remorse” or other situations where injured workers dispute their negotiated settlements. How can we avoid this?

The answer is: good communication. Now more than ever, digital age settlement negotiations are conducted through informal means such as emails and phone calls. This makes it even more important to outline formal and material terms if we can ever expect our agreements to be enforced.

In Florida, the interpretation of workers’ compensation settlement agreements is governed by contract law. See Bonagura v. Sedgwick & Home Depot., 991 So. 2d 902 (Fla. 1st D.C.A. 2008).

F.S. §440.20(11)(a) governs settlement of denied claims in which a claimant is not represented by counsel. Alternatively, F.S. §440.20(11)(b) governs accepted workers’ compensation claims, that is, claims in which a claimant has been receiving benefits and the accident has not been contested.

Whether the claimant is represented or not, settlement negotiations should include all material terms that the parties intend to enforce, including:

Amount of settlement and scope of cases or injuries covered;
Intended Breakdown for attorney’s fees/costs;
Whether a General Release (GR) and Separation Agreement (SA) are required;
Claimant’s requirement to sign workers’ compensation settlement documents;
Consideration being provided for the GR, SA and WC Settlement documents;
E/C reservation of third-party lien (if applicable);
Timeframe the offer remains open (Avoid open-ended offers that last in perpetuity);
Claimant counsel’s authority to sign (e-sign) on the claimant’s behalf (for a written agreement).

Expressly including these terms in pre-agreement settlement negotiations will ensure a speedy road to claim closure … or success in the event you need to file a Motion to Enforce Settlement.

If you have any questions on this topic, please feel free to reach out to one of us at HR Law. This month’s author is Brian Ricotta, bricotta@hrlawflorida.com.