JCC Awards IIB After 120-Day Waiver of Lumbar Disc Bulge

In Pakeania Laverne Steele v. CenturyLink of Florida, Inc./Sedgwick CMS and XL Insurance America, OJCC Case No. 25-019036JPM, Judge John P. Moneyham addressed a claim for impairment income benefits after a January 31, 2024 motor-vehicle accident in a hotel parking lot. The claimant relied on Dr. Smith's IME opinion that she had reached MMI with a 5 percent whole-person impairment rating for her lumbar condition.

The employer/carrier argued that no impairment income benefits were due because authorized providers Concentra and Dr. Weber placed the claimant at MMI with a zero percent impairment rating. The JCC rejected that position, finding the Florida Guides supported Dr. Smith's 5 percent rating because the claimant had an unoperated L4-5 disc bulge documented by MRI and medical records.

The order also found the L4-5 disc bulge compensable by operation of law under the 120-day rule. Concentra treated the low back after the MRI, the employer/carrier did not timely deny compensability of the condition, and it did not prove a later break in causation. The JCC granted impairment income benefits from January 5, 2026 and continuing as legally due, plus penalties, interest, costs, and attorney's fees.

Source: Compensation Order