Employer Fails to Prove Fraud; Employee Entitled to Job Reinstatement
An adjudication that an injured worker has violated §440.105(4)(b), Fla. Stat., the so-called "fraud" provision of the Florida Workers' Compensation Act, will result in the worker's loss of any right to claim workers' compensation benefits resulting from his otherwise compensable accident. See §440.09(4), Fla. Stat.
A "fraud" charge can have other consequences, too. Violation of §440.105 is actually a felony, so of course there can be criminal liability for the claimant, not just a loss of his workers' compensation benefits. Or, as I wrote about here, a false charge of fraud can lead to the filing of a civil lawsuit by the injured worker against the person or persons bringing the charges.
But what if the employer believes that the injured worker has committed workers' compensation fraud and uses that as a basis not for terminating the claimant's workers' compensation benefits, but for terminating his employment? That's what happened in Escambia County School Board v. Fowler, DOAH Case No. 06-4028, decided on 6/8/2007.
The administrative law judge here found that there was insufficient evidence that Fowler had committed fraud. Therefore, the ALJ ordered the school board to reinstate Fowler, with back pay.
Ms. Fowler is fortunate in the sense that she worked for a public employer and had the benefit of a collective bargaining agreement. Generally speaking, Florida is an "employment-at-will" state, meaning that, except for reasons such as discrimination on account of race, sex, handicap, etc., an employer may discharge its employee at any time and for any reason. [§440.205 also forbids an employer to discharge an employee because of his "valid claim for compensation or attempt to claim compensation" under the Florida Workers' Compensation Act, although the ALJ did not cite this provision in support of her decision].
