DIAN N E McFARLANE , Appellant,

v. MIAMI

- DADE TRANSIT AUTHORITY AND MIAMI

DADE COUNTY RISK MANAGEMENT, Appellee s . IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL FIRST DISTRICT, STATE OF FLORIDA
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED CASE NO. 1D 16

- 2080

_____________________________/ Opinion filed April 11, 2017. An appeal from an order of Judge of Compensation Claims

. Gerardo Castiello , Judge

. Date of Accident: August 6, 2009

. Bill McCabe , Longwood , and Bradley D. Asnis of Asnis, Srebnick & Kaufman, LLC , Sunrise , for Appellant. Abigail Price

- Williams, County Attorney, and Lynda S. Slade , Miami, for Appellee s .

PER CURIAM. In this workers’ compensation case, Claimant appeals the Judge of Compensation Claims’ (JCC’s) denial of her claim for continued medical care with2 Dr. Hodor, a previously authorized medical provider. The JCC based his decision on a finding that Claimant acquiesced to the authorization of another provider as her

one - time change of physician from Dr. Hodor. Because we find that the JCC improperly considered the E/C’s acquiescence defense, we reverse

. Following h er workplace accident on August 6, 2009, Claimant received authorized medical treatment from Dr. Hodor for a right wrist injury and from Dr. Baylis for a right shoulder injury. In 2011, Claimant requested a one

- time change of physician from Dr. Baylis in acc ordance with paragraph 440.13(2)(f)

. Paragraph 440.13(2)(f) provides that upon the grant of a one

- time change, the originally authorized physician shall become deauthorized upon written notification by the
E/C. In a timely response, the E/C authorized a ch ange from Dr. Baylis to Dr. Feanny . After receiving treatment from Dr. Feanny for both the right wrist and right shoulder injuries, Claimant filed a petition for benefits (PFB) in 2015 , which sought authorization of continued care with Dr. Hodor. Although the claims adjuster had testified only months earlier that Dr. Feanny was the one

- time change from Dr. Baylis , that Dr. Baylis was no longer authorized, and that Dr. Hodor remained authorized, the E/C sent a deauthorization letter to Dr. Hodor sho rtly after the PFB was filed. Florida Administrative Code Rule 60Q

- 6.113(2)(a) states, in pertinent part, that “all available defenses not raised in the pretrial stipulation are waived unless3 thereafter amended by the judge for good cause shown” and that “[a]bsent an agreement of the parties, in no event shall an amendment or supplement be used to raise a new claim or defense that could, or should have been raised when the initial pretrial stipulation was filed, unless permitted by the judge for good caus e shown.” In the pretrial stipulation, the E/C asserted a defense that Claimant had previously requested a one

- time from Dr. Hodor , who is no longer authorized, and that the authorized physician is Dr. Feanny, who has been treating Claimant since the one

t ime change. Significantly, the word “ acquiescence” does not appear at all in the pretrial stipulation and was not mentioned by the E/C until the ir trial memorandum was filed less than a week before the final hearing. The E/C have not established good cause for this omission. W e are unpersuaded by the E/C’s argument that the absence of the word “acquiescence” in the pretrial stipulation is irrelevant because this defense was somehow implicit in the words that were used

. We also find no merit in the E/C’s argument that they were not required to raise acquiescence as a defense because it is not an affirmative defense. It appears self

- evident that acquiescence is an affirmative defense under these circumstances ; but e ven if we were to assume otherwise, the pretrial rule applies to all defenses. In short, by failing to comply with the applicable pretrial rule, t he E/C here waived any defense based on acquiescence

. W e therefore REVERSE and REMAND for entry of an order grantin g the claimed benefits in accordance with this opinion

.4 ROBERTS, C.J., WOLF and B.L. THOMAS, JJ., CONCUR.