The Superior Court of Justice of Madrid has granted an industrial foreman the absolute permanent disability with the right to receive a lifetime pension equivalent to 100% of its regulatory base of 2,280.01 euros, after being denied by the National Social Security Institute (INSS). The court considers that his ailments limit him from any work activity, no matter how light and sedentary it may be.
The Disability Assessment Team (EVI), in 2019, initially recognized his disability for his usual profession, due to the following clinical picture: lumbar spondyloarthrosis plus lumbar canal stenosis, severe obesity, right coxarthrosis and patellofemoral syndrome. This limited it to moderately intense overloads of the lumbar spine. Subsequently, he was also recognized as having a total degree of disability of 43% and a degree I dependency status.
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A report of review of the degree of disabilitycarried out in 2020, diagnosed the same situation and maintained its rating, with a review date for June of next year. It was in 2022 when the foreman himself presented a prior claim to the INSS to request a new review of the degree of permanent disability due to aggravation of his clinical and functional state, seeking to have absolute permanent disability recognized.
However, this request was not processed and since no response was received, it was understood that it was rejected due to negative administrative silence. On April 21, 2023, he filed a complaint with the Dean of the Social Courts, requesting recognition of his absolute permanent disability due to aggravation and for the forensic doctor assigned to the Courts of Madrid to examine him.
The Social Court coincides with Social Security
The matter fell to the Social Court No. 34 of Madrid, which agreed that there was no room for taking evidence “as the possible controversial facts were not recorded, without prejudice to the right of the party to reiterate its request at the trial.” Given this, the worker filed an appeal for reconsideration that was dismissed on October 18, 2023.
The trial was held on April 24, 2024 and, after the conclusions were processed, the foreman reiterated that a report be issued by the forensic doctor, a final procedure that was rejected by the court “due to the abundant medical documentary evidence in the proceedings.”
The court dismissed his claim, arguing that, based on the documentary evidence on hand, he was not completely disqualified from any profession or trade, since there are sedentary and light jobs that he could perform. Given this ruling, the foreman decided to complain again, this time filing an appeal before the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid.
A determining point is that the Social Court rejected on two occasions (by order in 2023 and as a final procedure) the worker’s request to have a report from the forensic doctor, which is why in the appeal he alleged defenselessness.
The TSJ of Madrid agrees with the foreman and grants him absolute permanent disability
The Superior Court of Justice of Madrid addressed the reasons for the appeal, focusing first on the procedural nullity and then on the substantive issue. First of all, they pointed out an inconsistency in the lower court ruling: “In our view, the lower court ruling certainly errs when it makes a judgment of comparison between the EVI opinion of May 2019 and the grade review report of July 2020, given that what was in accordance with the law would have been to compare the clinical and functional status of the actor by comparing the one he had at the time of being declared affected by IPT and the one he presented on the date of application in October 2022, from the grade review updated with subsequent medical reports and until the trial is held.”
Despite this, they went on to analyze the underlying issue, the review of the degree of disability. Regarding this, the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid concluded in ruling 12130/2025 that the assessment of the plaintiff’s condition in 2024 highlights that the canal stenosis, fibrosis and multilevel degenerative spondylosis had evolved very unfavorably compared to the July 2020 report, suffering significant mechanical pain that limits him in all the activities of his daily life for which he needs help from a third party.
In addition, the existence of a pseudoarthrosis of the lower screws was confirmed, which limits the mobility of the foreman, requiring help at home for daily activities. Based on this clinical picture, the court upheld the worker’s appeal and granted him absolute permanent disability, understanding that his injuries deprive him of the necessary capacity to carry out, with the required performance, any type of regulated work activity, even the simplest, light or sedentary one. An appeal could be filed against this ruling before the Supreme Court.