Background
Meghan D. Bickel petitioned the Florida Department of Financial Services for a waiver of a statutory provision. The Department denied the petition after determining that section 120.542, Florida Statutes (2025), did not authorize it to waive statutory requirements.
A Department hearing officer issued a recommended order upholding the denial. The Department adopted that recommendation in a final administrative order, which Bickel appealed to the Florida First District Court of Appeal.
The Court’s Holding
The First District affirmed the Department’s final administrative order in a per curiam decision. The court’s majority disposition provided no written reasoning beyond “AFFIRMED.”
Judge Bilbrey wrote separately in concurrence. He explained that Bickel had not demonstrated any ground under section 120.68(7), Florida Statutes, for setting aside the final order and that affirmance of the agency action was therefore proper under section 120.68(8).
Key Takeaways
- The First District left intact the Department’s denial of Bickel’s petition for a statutory waiver.
- The Department concluded that section 120.542 authorizes no waiver of statutory requirements.
- Judge Bilbrey’s concurrence concluded that Bickel failed to establish a statutory basis for overturning the final agency action.
Why It Matters
The decision preserves the Department’s determination that its waiver authority under section 120.542 does not extend to statutory requirements. Because the per curiam affirmance contains no majority analysis, however, the opinion itself offers little guidance beyond the result; the stated rationale appears only in Judge Bilbrey’s concurrence.