Florida Workers' Comp: Happy Anniversary?

An intriguing anniversary was marked last week, but with little fanfare. The news has been hyperfocused on a multitude of societal issues that confront our present. Wars continue to rage, economics challenge us, and there is a seemingly unending parade of "this" and "that" on which we could focus.

But March 11, 2020 was a big day five years ago. The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a dire warning that day, declaring SARS-CoV-2 a pandemic. There was some surprise as I recall the time. I had been warning my students about it for about a month as I recall (random pictures of Corona Beer in my business law slideshows). It was, after all, a coronavirus and the students did readily respond to the reference.

The ensuing days, weeks, and months seem a blur in retrospect. There was a great deal of debate about how society should react to this threat, what the source was, and our personal protection. There were debates, recriminations, allegations, and vacillations. It was an odd time to live. I have some vivid memories, and reflection now is a positive exercise. At the time, it was more stress and reflection was neither helpful or positive.

A primary recollection was discussing the virus with our "purchasing" group. I had this thought early on in 2020 that we might need to stock up on disinfectant spray for the districts. That was belittled and minimized. The accountants told me I was overreacting, but eventually, they came around. By that point, we had to buy the spray on internet auction sites, at exorbitant prices. I still have a can in my office, with French labels, from Canada.

There was discord and confusion. I recall almost daily changes in what was known, suspected, and conjectured. I vividly recall a parade of advice and information in the weeks that followed the WHO proclamation. There were some advocating drugs or vitamins, others masks, others this, that, or another. The pace and variety of advice seemed to be frantic at times. A recent story on MSN recounts some interesting memories in Europe.

I first knew COVID was significant when I got an email from the university. It essentially said to enjoy Spring Break the next week. It concluded that the virus threat might be significant and that the university would therefore extend Spring Break an extra week. Almost immediately, that communique was followed by another that we should strive to continue teaching the week after Spring Break, but without being in class.

I had no Zoom or similar experience. I had You Tube. I found a free program that allowed me to record my computer screen and I used it to make a video of my lecture and power point for the week after Spring Break. I uploaded that to You Tube and sent the link to my students. But one week led to the next. We muddled through that semester without ever returning to class. I got most of them through, but a few dropped by the wayside. I will always remember those who went from "camera on" to audio only, to not attending. Then, I could not get an email response. Those few just faded away.

We muddled through in the world of workers' compensation. There were various Florida localities that strove to shut down. There were local shutdowns ordered by various Florida municipalities. We heard of states shutting down. When Florida joined the movement on April 1, 2020, National Public Radio (NPR) reported that more than 30 states were in "lockdown."

Governor DeSantis' order directed

"all Floridians to limit movements and personal interactions outside the home to only those necessary to obtain or provide essential services or essential activities."

I was convinced then, and remain so now, that workers' compensation is an "essential service." I thought we needed to keep the documents moving, the cases developing, the motions heard, the orders entered. We touch a great many lives in this little corner of the law. We persevered while other state workers' compensation systems and government functions shut down, sent teams home, and waited.

The OJCC stayed in the office. I sent all the mediations telephonic. There seemed a fair balance in continuing to deliver services but in a manner that minimized risk to our public and team. We all began spraying things with disinfectant, evolved to distancing, and kept working.

We left the hearing issue up to the judges individually. Some held live hearings throughout. Some adapted to telephonic when they could. Others shifted their trials to other judges. We had a lot of experience with Videoteleconference hearings, and it was not long before we discovered Zoom, Google Meets, and Teams. I was very fortunate to get a lot of access to these programs and training through the university, and that experimentation aided me in workers' compensation.

Florida reopened rapidly in the early summer 2020. Hurdles remained, but it was nice to see the state returning to normal and to evolve through the challenges. But, I will always remember that the OJCC never stopped.

At the end of it all, however, our OJCC success was all about the people. Those who work at the OJCC and those who practice here. They were the best, day after day, through good and bad. I will forever be highly proud of the dedicated and focused OJCC team that continued to deliver consistently, earnestly, professionally, and patiently in that era.

We began to explore the potential for work-related SARS-CoV-2 and the challenges of compensability and proof surrounding disease. There was significant discussion, some pleading, various allegations, and disagreement. We shifted a bit into the counselor mode. I recall various calls with attorneys and others who were frustrated, anxious, and uncertain. They did not seek answers or advice, but they wanted to vent about how their world was not working.

We evolved. I recall when we bought plexiglass shields for keeping people separate in hearings. The effort was likely futile. But remember, there was a time when the scientists argued with each other as to whether the disease "could" be airborne. In retrospect, that seems odd. But in the moment there was uncertainty. Listening to the scientists seemed a good plan.

Plexiglass. I recall conversations with other states' leaders in which they described spending the money to build workspaces of the stuff by extending cubicle walls, dividing rooms, etc. They bought the stuff in huge quantities, spent significantly installing it, and then lacked the fortitude or leadership to return their teams to those plexi-clad offices. I recall one calling me with "how did you get your people to come back?" He was incredulous when I replied, "we never left."

I look back now and can only hear Truckin (Warner Brothers, 1970) by the Grateful Dead in my head:

Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me
Other times I can barely see
Lately it occurs to me
What a long, strange trip it's been

Strange indeed. COVID eventually came to a close. We were blessed with state leadership that got Florida back to work, to function, to productivity so rapidly. There is no state that handled it better (personal opinion). We struggled to implement and to accommodate, but the OJCC led in the effort for normalcy. We persevered and we produced.

I lamented the many systems that did or could not, but tried. And I can think of some things I might do differently if faced with that again. However, I am confident that I will not be around for the next great pandemic and my lessons learned will have to be learned then by someone who will likely not even recall the Great Panic of 2020.

Over the months, I spent a lot of time working on understanding COVID and thinking through various implications. It may be the most prolific composite topic in this Blog. I reflect now on the strange five years stretched out in our wake. It is surreal and amazing all at once.

I recall much discussion of when the Great Panic ended. That discussion was largely regional. It ended more rapidly here than elsewhere. In May 2023. President Biden declared it over in the U.S. The WHO soon followed. Despite being "over" as a pandemic, the virus has persisted in an endemic state. I know people who say they have it today. The numbers are significantly lower than during the Great Panic, but the disease persists. It is now in the endemic state that was predicted.

Nonetheless, I started feeling it was "over" in April 2021. I had an experience then, described in A Great Hamburger with a Smile (April 2021), that made me hopeful and motivated. While that date was likely too soon to label "over," it was certainly not the "end of the beginning," but was the "beginning of the end." I struggle, in retrospect, to think of things returning to normal, but it happened.

I knew it was conclusively "over" when the scarce and coveted became commonplace. I took the photo below of sale-priced disinfectant in August 2024. Remember when you couldn't find cleaning supplies? Then the hasses with quantity limits and recriminations? I pitied the poor store staff who tried to enforce those rules on everything from spray to bleach to toilet paper to hamburger.

The WHO says 1.22 million Americans died. Most of those were in the annual spikes in 2020, 21, and 22. The graphs in a recent ABC News story are very informative. Some strive to include more deaths in the total, noted by Boston University and others. The scientists continue to debate "excess death," causation, and more. Reminds me that Tootsie Pops Make You Think (August 2021).

There is also discussion in the ABC News story of "Long COVID," and the impacts that it has as people suffer symptoms for months. I got some grief from readers when I raised that topic in October 2020. Some ridiculed the idea then, and some still do. The effects and impacts of this virus have been significant. The recovery and perseverance have also been.

My former discussion efforts are listed below. A "strange trip" indeed.

125 prior blog posts re COVID-19:

Corona Virus COVID-19 03.10.20;

COVID-19 All OJCC Mediations Temporarily Telephonic 03.14.20;

Remotely Swearing Witnesses 03.15.20;

Stress in the Time of COVID 03.19.20;

Shifting Paradigms 03.22.20;

COVID-19 Update 06.09.20;

Six Degrees of COVID-19 04.02.20;

A Mistaken Motion 04.14.20;

We will Get Through This 04.19.20;

Science, Standards, and Government 04.26.20;