Workers’ Compensation · Primary-source case analysis

PEPCO: A Scheduled Longshore Injury Must Be Paid Under the Statutory Schedule

By Aneeta Mishra and Timothy Chan

Published August 19, 2026

Potomac Electric Power Co. v. Director, OWCP involved a cable splicer whose knee injury produced a permanent partial loss of use of his leg and a larger asserted loss of wage-earning capacity.

The leg injury appeared in the statutory schedule

Sections 8(c)(1) through (20) specify fixed periods of compensation for listed permanent partial disabilities, including loss or loss of use of a leg.

The worker could not elect the larger wage-loss formula

Section 8(c)(21) applies in all other cases. The Court treated that language as excluding disabilities already described by the schedule.

The schedule reflects a legislative compromise

Fixed benefits provide speed and predictability even when the particular award does not precisely match an individual worker’s actual wage loss.

Classification must precede calculation

PEPCO does not decide whether an injury is covered by the Act or the percentage of impairment. Those factual and statutory questions remain separate.

Key takeaways

• Identify whether the permanent partial disability is specifically scheduled.
• Obtain competent evidence of the percentage loss of use.
• Separate scheduled permanent disability from temporary disability periods.
• Apply current Longshore amendments and controlling circuit law.