Case Name: RUSSELL CORPORATION and Thomas Howell Group/GAB Robbins, Appellants, v. Kelley A. BROOKS, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1997-09-12
Citations: 698 So. 2d 1334
Docket Number: No. 96-3265
Parties: RUSSELL CORPORATION and Thomas Howell Group/GAB Robbins, Appellants, v. Kelley A. BROOKS, Appellee.
Judges: KAHN, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 698
Pages: 1334–1337

Head Matter:
RUSSELL CORPORATION and Thomas Howell Group/GAB Robbins, Appellants, v. Kelley A. BROOKS, Appellee.
No. 96-3265.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.
Sept. 12, 1997.
Mary E. Cruickshank and Patrick E. Weaver of McConnaughhay, Maida & Cherr, Tallahassee, and Mary L. Wakeman of McConnaughhay, Duffy, Coonrod, Pope & Weaver, Tallahassee, for appellants.
T. Rhett Smith of Kinsey, Troxel, Johnson and Walborsky, P.A., Pensacola, for appellee.

Opinion:
BENTON, Judge.
Because neither Russell Corporation (the employer) nor Thomas Howell Group/ GAB Robbins (the employer's insurance carrier) filed a notice of denial after receiving Kelley Brooks' petition for benefits, the judge of compensation claims awarded her temporary total disability benefits, wage loss benefits, a penalty on past due indemnity benefits, medical expenses incurred for the treatment of her injury, interest on all past due benefits awarded, costs, and attorney's fees. In entering this compensation order, the judge of compensation claims relied on Waffle House v. Hutchinson, 673 So.2d 883 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996), review denied, 683 So.2d 486 (Fla.1996), which we have since repudiated, originally in North River Insurance Company v. Wuelling, 683 So.2d 1090 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996).
On the authority of Wuelling, we reverse the order under review, and remand for consideration of the merits of Ms. Brooks' claim. The carrier's failure to file a notice of denial with the division in response to a petition for benefits sent by certified mail violated section 440.192(8), Florida Statutes (Supp.1994), inasmuch as neither appellant paid the benefits the claimant requested. The carrier did not invoke the "pay and investigate" provisions of section 440.20(4), Florida Statutes (Supp.1994), nor was the claim accepted. But, as explained in Wuelling, the penalties for failing to file a notice of denial do not include forfeiture of the appellants' right to contest compensability. See Wuelling, 683 So.2d at 1092 n. 1 (describing penalties that may be imposed).
In practical effect, the appellants' failure to respond to the petition for benefits in the present ease operated not as an admission of compensability but as a denial of every allegation in the petition for benefits. Appellants' failure to act within fourteen days did not alter the timetable either for giving notice of a mediation conference or for actually holding the conference; both deadlines depend on when the petition for benefits is filed, not when or whether a notice of denial is filed. § 440.25(1), Fla. Stat. (Supp. 1994).
If mediation does not succeed, the judge of compensation claims must hold a pretrial hearing and, if necessary, a final hearing. § 440.25(4), Fla. Stat. (1995). By ordering the parties to enter into a prehearing stipulation, the judge of compensation claims can require issues to be narrowed well before the merits hearing, notwithstanding the absence of a notice of denial. Appellants' position is procedurally equivalent to that of an employer or carrier who timely denies a petition for all benefits requested, willing to take its chances at mediation and, that failing, litigation with all its attendant risks.
Reversed and remanded.
KAHN, J., concurs.
ERVIN, J., concurs with opinion.
See also Commercial Carrier Corp. v. Madsen, 695 So.2d 770 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)(reversing award of permanent total disability benefits where judge of compensation claims relied on Waffle House)] Crawford and Co. v. Barnes, 691 So.2d 1142 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)(holding error to award permanent total disability benefits on grounds that employer/carrier failed to file notice of denial within fourteen days of claim for benefits); Spence v. Trader Publ'g Co., 688 So.2d 4 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997); Jupiter Hosp. v. Wall, 688 So.2d 3 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)(reversing order which determined compensability on the basis of Waffle House); Mellon Sec. & Sound v. Custer, 687 So.2d 1372, 1373 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997); Olsten Staffing Servs. v. Cooks, 694 So.2d 52 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)(treating appellee's motion to dismiss as confession of error and reversing for further proceedings in light of Wuelling); E.H. v. Temporary Labor Source, Inc., 687 So.2d 884 n. 1 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)(remanding to JCC to resolve claimant's contention that employer/carrier untimely denied compensability in light of Wuelling)] Home Shopping Network v. Skaggs-Webb, 694 So.2d 46 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997).