State Ex Rel. Stafford v. Industrial Commission

Claimant seeks wage-loss compensation for periods during which she was either unemployed or working but making less than she had at Evenflo.

No one disputes that claimant made less after she left Evenflo. No one disputes the validity of claimant’s physical restrictions or their prohibitive effect on a return to the former position of employment. Appellants instead oppose payment on two grounds: voluntary abandonment and a lack of a good-faith job search.

Appellants initially assert that claimant abandoned her job at Evenflo for reasons unrelated to her injury, breaking the causal connection…