Case Name: SUBURBAN PROPANE, Appellant, v. The ESTATE OF Ralph PITCHER, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1990-06-21
Citations: 564 So. 2d 1118
Docket Number: No. 90-441
Parties: SUBURBAN PROPANE, Appellant, v. The ESTATE OF Ralph PITCHER, Appellee.
Judges: NIMMON, J., and THOMPSON, FORD L. (Ret.), Associate Judge, concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 564
Pages: 1118–1125

Head Matter:
SUBURBAN PROPANE, Appellant, v. The ESTATE OF Ralph PITCHER, Appellee.
No. 90-441.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.
June 21, 1990.
Rehearing Denied July 26, 1990.
George P. Roberts, Jr., of Roberts & Reynolds, P.A., West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Joseph A. Vassallo, Lake Worth, for ap-pellee.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
Petitioner, Suburban Propane, the employer/carrier (E/C) in this workers' compensation action, asks this court to issue a writ of common law certiorari, thereby quashing an order of the judge of compensation claims which authorized the taking of certain depositions of the E/C's employees. Petitioner asserts that the order is not authorized under Section 440.39(7), Florida Statutes (1989), and that the ordered depositions exceed the scope of discovery as set forth in Section 440.30, Florida Statutes (1989). We agree with both propositions and therefore grant the writ in so far as the requested depositions exceed the allowable scope of discovery.
Ralph Pitcher, an employee of the E/C, died on November 7, 1989, from asphyxiation caused by leaking gas fumes, while filling a propane tank at a customer location. The estate of the decedent thereafter filed a claim for workers' compensation death benefits, which was accepted shortly afterward by the E/C, and several checks for such benefits were in fact issued to the decedent's next of kin. There remained, however, a pending issue regarding the amount of the decedent's average weekly wage (AWW).
Thereafter, the estate sought to depose eight fellow employees of the deceased regarding not only the deceased's AWW, but also regarding the particular job the deceased was performing when he met his untimely death. The E/C moved for protective order, which was denied. The judge's order specifically allowed the estate to delve into matters relating to the deceased's AWW; the location and area of the particular job where the deceased sustained his untimely death; the responsibilities and duties of the job that the deceased was performing for the employer; the records relating to the installation, maintenance, repair and/or records kept in connection with the customer location where the deceased died; who made the records related to the installation, maintenance, repair, and reports kept in connection with the customer location where the deceased died; and who possessed copies of the records related to the installation, maintenance, and repair kept in connection with the customer location where the deceased died. It is from this order that the E/C seeks relief.
The proper standard for granting a petition for a writ of certiorari is a departure from the essential requirements of law that cannot be remedied on final appeal and thus may cause continuing harm or result in a miscarriage of justice. Martin-Johnson, Inc. v. Savage, 509 So.2d 1097, 1099 (Fla.1987); Combs v. State, 436 So.2d 93 (Fla.1983). It is well established that interlocutory orders dealing with discovery proceedings may be reviewed by certiorari. West Volusia Hosp. Auth. v. Williams, 308 So.2d 634, 636 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975).
It is the estate's contention that Section 440.39(7), Florida Statutes (1989), requires the E/C to cooperate by allowing the depositions. That section provides:
The employee, employer, and carrier have a duty to cooperate with each other in investigating and prosecuting claims and potential claims against third-party tortfeasors by producing nonprivileged documents and allowing inspection of premises, but only to the extent necessary for such purpose. Such documents and results of such inspections shall not be used or disclosed for any other purpose.
However, because petitioner has admitted that it is on a fishing expedition to establish employer liability, it certainly cannot be said the depositions involve an investigation or prosecution of a claim or potential claim against a third-party tortfeasor, Thus, the duty to cooperate set forth in section 440.39(7) does not attach in the instant case, and any order requiring it to apply constitutes a departure from the essential requirements of law.
Moreover, the requested depositions are generally outside the scope of discovery allowed in workers' compensation cases. Section 440.30, Florida Statutes (1989), provides:
Depositions of witnesses or parties . may be taken and may be used in connection with proceedings under the Workers' Compensation Law . for the same purposes, including the purposes of discovery, and subject to the same rules; all as now or hereafter prescribed by law or by rules of court governing the taking and use of such depositions in civil actions at law in the circuit courts of this state.
Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.280(b)(1) establishes the scope of discovery in civil actions. It states: "Parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the subject matter of the pending action[.J' (Emphasis added.) Here, the only pending issue in the claim is the amount of the deceased's AWW. Thus, questions concerning the location and areas of the particular job where the deceased died, his job duties and responsibilities, and records regarding installation, maintenance, and repair of the propane tank clearly are not relevant to the only pending issue — AWW. Consequently, because the judge's order authorized discovery of matters other than AWW, it exceeded the scope of discovery allowed in workers' compensation cases, and must be quashed to that extent.
In view of our disposition of this case on the above bases, we do not consider other related issues such as: (1) whether Section 440.39(7) encompasses depositions in addition to the discovery procedures specified in the statute, i.e., production of documents and inspection of premises; and (2) whether the employer's duty of cooperation under the statute extends to the claimant's fellow employees.
Because the judge's order constitutes a departure from the essential requirements of the law that cannot be remedied on final appeal, the petition is granted to the extent discovery is authorized into areas other than AWW.
NIMMON, J., and THOMPSON, FORD L. (Ret.), Associate Judge, concur.
ERVIN, J., concurs and dissents with written opinion.
. At the hearing on the motion for protective order, petitioner's attorney expressed concern that "this is a fishing expedition in an attempt to find some employer's liability." In response, claimant's attorney said, "That's, it was definitely stated and we're doing that, you're absolutely correct. We will tell you that's what we're doing."
. See section 440.39(3)(a), in which the legislature acknowledged that an employer may not comply with its. duty to cooperate when the "claim or potential claim against a third party is likely to impose liability upon the party whose cooperation is sought."