JCC Awards TPD After Layoff, Rejects Voluntary-Limitation Defense

Maria Melgar, a landscaping worker for United Land Services Operating LLC, injured her right lower leg when a mower pinned her against a car on September 3, 2025. After the employer/carrier accepted compensability for the right-lower-extremity injury, the dispute narrowed to temporary partial disability benefits, with Melgar seeking TPD plus penalties, interest, fees, and costs.

Judge Thomas A. Hedler found the medical and lay evidence supported work restrictions from February 11, 2026 through March 25, 2026 and that those restrictions would have kept Melgar from returning to her prior landscaping job. The order also found the employer/carrier failed to prove a voluntary limitation of income after laying her off and offering no work within restrictions, so the JCC awarded TPD for that window while denying TPD for the earlier and later claimed periods.

The order grants TPD from February 11, 2026 to March 25, 2026, plus related penalties, interest, attorney's fees, and costs, with the amount of indemnity to be handled administratively. For practitioners, the decision is a useful reminder that a layoff and the absence of suitable restricted-duty work can undercut a voluntary-limitation defense even when the claimant did not perform a formal job search.

Source: Compensation Order