Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control v. Blot, Record No. 1395-21-2 (Va. App. Sept. 6, 2022).
The claimant tripped over a rug and injured his knee sustaining a compensable injury by accident. Later, the claimant stopped working after receiving a note from his cardiologist taking him out of work due to COVID. The claimant admitted his decision to stop working was not due to his knee injury.
During the claimant’s absence from work, the employer replaced him. Approximately one year later, the claimant returned to light duty work. His treating physician gave him “light duty” restrictions but did not specify what those restrictions where, nor did the doctor restrict the number of hours the claimant could work.
The employer had updated their systems in the claimant’s absence, so when he returned to work he needed to be retrained. While he was on light duty, he worked reduced hours due to scheduling issues and his need to be retrained. He began marketing his residual capacity but did not find a job.
