JCC Awards Foot Injury Benefits After Gas-Station Booth Fall

In Isabel Edwards v. BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc./Sedgwick CMS, OJCC Case No. 26-005864BJA, Judge Brian J. Anthony addressed compensability, temporary disability, and medical care after a February 13, 2026 incident in a gas-station attendant booth caused left-foot metatarsal fractures and a dislocated toe.

The Employer/Carrier conceded the claimant was at work but disputed whether the accident arose out of employment. The JCC accepted Dr. Mark Bornstein's podiatry opinion that the claimant's foot fractured while she maneuvered around a chair in a small booth to check the Veeder-Root monitor, rejecting the argument that an unexplained personal condition caused the fall.

The order found the accident compensable under multiple theories, including the confined workspace and lack of credible evidence of an idiopathic or competing personal cause. The JCC also credited the claimant's testimony despite differing medical histories, finding her credible and the surveillance consistent with the work-related mechanism.

Benefits were awarded in part and denied in part. The JCC granted TTD from February 13 through February 17, 2026, TPD from February 18 through September 11, 2026, follow-up BayCare care, podiatry treatment, compensability of the left foot and toe injuries, Orlando Health emergency care, penalties and interest on awarded indemnity, and attorney's fees and costs. The request for an orthopedic surgeon was denied because the evidence supported podiatry care instead.

Source: Compensation Order