Case Name: Ronald GRAY, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS and Division of Risk Management, Appellees
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2005-11-07
Citations: 918 So. 2d 322
Docket Number: No. 1D04-803
Parties: Ronald GRAY, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS and Division of Risk Management, Appellees.
Judges: KAHN, C.J., VAN NORTWICK and HAWKES, JJ, concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 918
Pages: 322–323

Head Matter:
Ronald GRAY, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS and Division of Risk Management, Appellees.
No. 1D04-803.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.
Nov. 7, 2005.
Patrick J. Deese, Melbourne and Bill McCabe, Longwood, for Appellant.
Pamela Craig of Stump, Webster, Craig, Recksiedler & Morris-Webster, P.A., Orlando, for Appellees.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
Ronald Gray, claimant, appeals from an order denying workers' compensation benefits for a heart attack he suffered on December 31, 2002, while employed as a corrections probation officer. The Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) concluded that claimant was not entitled to the statutory presumption of compensability provided to law enforcement officers for disabling heart disease because claimant's pre-employment physical revealed evidence of heart disease. See § 112.18(1), Fla. Stat. (2002). This court has recently held that "a correctional officer's entitlement to the statutory presumption is not conditioned upon proof that he or she successfully passed a pre-employment physical which failed to reveal evidence of the ultimately disabling or fatal heart . condition." State v. Reese, 911 So.2d 1291 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005). Applying the Reese holding, we reverse the JCC's determination that Gray was not entitled to the statutory presumption of compensability. We do not reverse outright, however, and remand the case for further proceedings on the question of whether appellees can defeat presumed compensability.
REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings.
KAHN, C.J., VAN NORTWICK and HAWKES, JJ, concur.