In 1983 the California Supreme Court made it clear that with an individualized assessment of capacity, an injured worker can be found to have suffered permanent total disability as a consequence of impairments caused by an industrial injury, despite the Permanent Disability Rating Schedule that concludes oppositely. That Court phrased it, “… the scheduled rating may be rebutted by establishing that the rating fails to account for the impact of an injured worker’s ability to participate in vocational rehabilitation …” (LeBoeuf v WCAB (1983) 34 Cal. 3rd 234).

In the LeBoeuf matter (id.), the Court made it clear that if an individual cannot be vocationally retrained to return to an earning capacity in the “open-labor market” as a consequence of his industrial injury, this evidence is relevant to the question of the extent of disability attributable to the work injury. Thus, that Court determined that an injured employee’s amenability to be vocationally rehabilitated bears heavily on the question of the nature and extent of compensable disability.

For additional information, contact The Law Office of John Bloom. With over 40 years of experience advocating for claimants injured on the job, Mr. Bloom is the leading workers’ compensation specialist near the Santa Rosa area. Call him at (707) 524-1144.