City of Miami v. Watkins

WENTWORTH, Judge.

Appellant, the employer/self-insured, seeks review of a workers’ compensation order by which it was ordered to pay a $40,000 attorney’s fee based on bad faith. Appellant contends the deputy commissioner erred in basing the fee on bad faith, asserting that the issue was not tried in a separate hearing and no evidence of bad faith was presented at the fee hearing. Appellant also seeks a determination of the applicable attorney’s fee statute as to permanent total disability benefits awarded appellee as a result of merger of disabilities from accidents which occurred in 1973,…