Opinion ID: 1737824
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: City of Clearwater v. Lawrence Hahn, Case Number 93,983

Text: In 1992, Mr. Hahn was injured in the scope of his employment as a public service technician. In 1994, he was accepted as permanently and totally disabled. Thereafter, he began to receive workers' compensation benefits and supplemental benefits based on his individual AWW. In 1995, in addition to his workers' compensation benefits, Mr. Hahn also began to receive pension benefits from the City. His pension offset was calculated based on his contract of hire rate rather than his AWW. [7] The offset also included workers' compensation benefits and supplemental benefits. The offset was recalculated annually to include cost-of-living increases in supplemental benefits. Mr. Hahn conceded that supplemental benefits that had accrued prior to his being accepted as permanently and totally disabled should be included in the offset; however, he contested including subsequent increases in supplemental benefits and using his contract for hire rate as a basis for calculating the offset. The JCC held that it was improper to use the contract of hire as the basis for determining the offset [8] but that it was proper to recalculate the offset annually to include increases in supplemental benefits. The First District upheld the JCC's decision on the contract of hire issue but reversed the JCC's decision that the pension offsets should be recalculated annually to include increases in supplemental benefits. The First District cited Acker v. City of Clearwater, 755 So.2d 651 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998), and certified the same question presented in therein. See Hahn v. City of Clearwater, 755 So.2d 137 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998). For the reasons expressed above we approve the First District's decision in Hahn.