A recliner mechanism for use with a vehicle seat having a floor striker engaging bottom and a pivotally associated seatback. A seatback is pivotally secured to a fixed support and includes an arcuate lower surface upon which are defined teeth. A pawl is pivotally secured to the support and includes an upper surface with additional inter-engaging teeth when the seatback is in an upright position. A release cam secures to the support proximate a recessed underside location of the pawl and maintains the pawl in locking engagement with the seatback sector in a first position. The release cam rotates to cause the pawl to pivot out of engagement with the seatback, allowing it to pivot to a dump position opposing the seat bottom and concurrent with the seat bottom releasing from the floor striker and tumbling to a forward rotated position. A floor latch release lever is also pivotally secured to the support and, upon being contacted by the release cam, in turn pivots so that an end feature displaces to prevent the locking pawl from pivoting in a reverse direction against the seatback. The release lever reverse pivots in response to the seat bottom reengaging the floor striker, causing the pawl to reverse pivot its teeth into reengagement with the seatback upon the latter rotating back to the upright position.