Summary
reversing the trial court's grant of an employer's motion for summary judgment because the employer failed to conclusively demonstrate that the plaintiff's workers' compensation claims "were not a substantial factor" in the company's termination decision
Summary of this case from Juback v. Michaels Stores, Inc.Opinion
Case No. 4D01-4956
Opinion filed January 29, 2003 Rehearing Denied March 27, 2003.
Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County; Lucy Chernow Brown, Judge; L.T. Case No. CL 98-9975 AF.
Nathaniel E. Green of Nathaniel E. Green, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellant.
Robert L. Teitler and Amy L. Smith of Walton Lantaff Schroeder Carson, Miami, for appellee City of Boca Raton.
Wavernita Hubbard, the appellant, sued her former employer, the City of Boca Raton, alleging that her employment had been terminated in retaliation for filing workers' compensation claims, in violation of section 440.205, Florida Statutes. The trial court entered summary judgment in favor of the employer. We reverse as the employer failed to conclusively demonstrate that Hubbard's workers' compensation claims were not a substantial factor in the employer's termination decision. See Rivera v. Saffold, 606 So.2d 1249 (Fla.2d DCA 1992) (reversing summary judgment in favor of employer where the record raised a question as to the employer's motivation for firing employee); see also Fine Arts Museum Found. v. First Nat'l in Palm Beach, 633 So.2d 1179, 1881 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994) ("If the record raises the slightest doubt that an issue might exist, then summary judgment is improper.") (citing Holland v. Verheul, 583 So.2d 788, 789 (Fla.2d DCA 1991)).
REVERSED and REMANDED.
KLEIN, STEVENSON, JJ., and BAILEY, JENNIFER D., Associate Judge, concur.