Bradley Westphal, Petitioner v. City of St. Petersburg

Summary

Justice Canady, dissenting, agreed that the lower court improperly deemed Westphal at maximum medical improvement when his temporary total disability benefits expired, but would have rejected his access-to-courts challenge to the statutory limitation. He reasoned that the statute restructured rather than abolished a preexisting right of redress and that the Legislature had authority to balance benefit duration against benefit amounts. Justice Lewis, concurring in the result, agreed that the statutory scheme was unconstitutional as applied but would have required comprehensive legislative reform rather than the majority's remedy.