JCC Awards TTD and Treatment After Rejecting Marijuana Intoxication Defense

In Ernesto Cuellar v. Paul Bange Roofing, Inc. / Bridgefield Employers Insurance Company and Summit, OJCC Case No. 25-006746TAH, the claimant sought compensability, TTD and TPD benefits, cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and rib treatment, and payment of major hospital and physician bills after a March 20, 2025 fall from a ladder while working on a roof. Judge Thomas A. Hedler bifurcated the case, reserving the lumbar-spine issues and most treatment after April 7, 2025, but reached the compensability, disability, and immediate-treatment disputes tried in May 2026.

The employer and carrier defended primarily on marijuana intoxication. Judge Hedler rejected that defense on both the law and the facts. The order held the statutory presumption under sections 440.101 and 440.09(7) did not arise because the carrier relied on a blood test instead of the urine testing required by the governing rule, and the judge separately found the carrier failed to prove the accident was primarily caused by intoxication. The order credited testimony that the claimant had not smoked on the day of the fall, accepted toxicology testimony that the low THC level was residual rather than proof of impairment, and found no credible evidence that the claimant appeared impaired before the accident.

With those defenses rejected, the order granted compensability, ongoing cervical, thoracic, and rib treatment, TTD from October 16, 2025 through May 18, 2026, and payment of the claimant’s hospitalization and related bills through April 7, 2025, including Delray Medical Center and multiple specialist providers. For carriers and employers, the ruling is a reminder that an intoxication defense can collapse if the testing method misses the statutory requirements or the record does not connect the substance level to actual impairment at the time of the accident.

Source: Compensation Order