$1.8 Million Settlement: Ladder Fall Paralysis After Carrier’s Full Denial Was Defeated 

What Happened 

In 2021, our client fell from a ladder on a construction job site. The fall caused paralysis from the chest down to the feet. Within hours, his life had been redrawn in every direction: he could not stand, could not walk, could not return to the kind of work he had been doing his entire adult life, and could not, on any reasonable timeline, expect to. 

In the immediate aftermath, the system was supposed to step in. Florida workers’ compensation is no-fault. He was working when it happened. He fell from a ladder while performing assigned tasks. There is no exotic legal theory required to recognize a workplace injury that obvious. 

The carrier denied the claim anyway. In its entirety.

What the Carrier Argued 

Full denials of catastrophic injuries are not common, but they happen. They happen when a carrier sees a path, however thin, to disputing some element of compensability: whether the accident truly arose out of and in the course of employment, whether the worker was engaged in horseplay or willful misconduct, whether the injury is the major contributing cause of the disability, whether the worker was technically an employee or an independent contractor, or whether some procedural defect in the report of injury can be exploited. 

When a carrier denies a claim like this one, the practical effect is brutal. The injured worker has no medical treatment authorized through workers’ compensation, no lost-wage checks, no coverage for the care a paralysis injury demands every single day. Many workers in this position feel that they have no path forward except to give up, settle for a fraction of what their case is worth, or bankrupt themselves trying to fund their own care while the dispute drags on. 

That is the leverage the denial creates. It is not subtle, and it is not accidental.

What We Proved 

Thomas Scully took on the compensability fight. Tom spent 12 years on the carrier side as a trial and appellate attorney for a major Florida workers’ compensation insurer. He has argued cases at the First District Court of Appeal, which is the appellate court for Florida workers’ compensation, and he understood from the inside how denials of this kind are constructed and where the weak points are. 

The litigation was extensive. It involved depositions, medical evidence, witness testimony, and the legal arguments required to dismantle each element of the carrier’s stated reasons for denial. Throughout that process, Tom kept the case moving rather than letting it stall on the carrier’s preferred timeline. Every delay benefited the carrier and harmed our client. 

Eventually, the carrier rescinded its denial. That is not a routine outcome. A rescission means the carrier accepted that the claim was, in fact, compensable, and that its prior denial was not defensible. After the rescission, the carrier authorized all the medical care our client needed and paid the lost-wage benefits that had been wrongfully withheld during the denial period. 

Under Florida Statute § 440.34, when a carrier denies that an accident occurred for which compensation is payable and the claimant prevails on compensability, the carrier may be ordered to pay the injured worker’s attorney’s fees. That is exactly what happened here. The carrier paid the attorney’s fee in this case directly, separate from the benefits owed to our client.  

With benefits flowing and compensability resolved, the case ultimately settled for $1,800,000. That settlement closed out future medical and indemnity exposure on a claim that, days into our representation, the carrier had said was worth nothing at all.

What This Result Meant 

For our client, the result was not just the settlement number. It was the difference between getting medical care or going without it. Between paying his bills during recovery or losing his home. Between being seen by the system as a worker entitled to benefits, or being seen as a problem the carrier could refuse to solve. 

For his family, it was the recognition that what happened to him at work was, in fact, the responsibility of the system that exists for exactly this purpose.

The Takeaway for Other Injured Workers 

If a Florida workers’ compensation carrier has denied your entire claim, do not assume the denial means your case is over. Carriers deny claims they know are compensable. They deny claims because denials work; they cause many workers to give up. Carriers also rescind denials, but typically only when they are forced to. 

Tom Scully’s appellate experience and his time on the carrier side make this kind of fight what he does. If you have received a full denial of a serious work injury claim, particularly one involving catastrophic injury or appellate-level legal questions, talk to us before you make any other decision about the case.

Hurt at Work? Talk to Berlin Law Firm

If you have suffered a serious injury on the job in Florida, the steps you take in the first weeks of your claim can shape what your case is worth for the rest of your life. Berlin Law Firm focuses only on Florida workers’ compensation, and our team includes attorneys with deep experience on both sides of the system. 

Consultations are free, and under Florida law there is no fee unless we recover benefits for you. 

Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each workers’ compensation case is evaluated on its own facts, including the type and severity of injury, the worker’s age and pre-injury wages, the carrier’s defenses, and the medical evidence available. The settlement described above reflects circumstances unique to this case. 

Your Attorney

Thomas F. Scully, Esq.

Trial & Appellate Attorney · Workers’ Compensation

Thomas Scully has practiced Florida workers’ compensation exclusively for more than 25 years, including 12 years as a trial and appellate attorney for a major Florida workers’ compensation carrier. He has successfully argued numerous cases at the First District Court of Appeal, the appellate court for Florida workers’ compensation, and brings that appellate-caliber preparation to every case at Berlin Law Firm. He represents injured workers in catastrophic, denied, and contested claims from the firm’s Sarasota and Tampa offices.

Education & Recognition

• J.D., St. Thomas University School of Law · B.A., State University of New York at Albany
• Admitted to The Florida Bar, 1997
• Member, Workers’ Compensation Section of The Florida Bar
• Speaker at 100+ Florida workers’ compensation seminars

Call Tom — (941) 777-7000 [email protected] View Full Bio →