The Superior Court of Justice of Galicia has ruled in favor of a woman Early Childhood Education teacher who suffers from vision loss, fibromyalgia and chronic depression to receive total permanent disability after Social Security initially denied it. The court considers that these ailments, which she had had for more than 10 years, were more than enough to make her incapable of carrying out her work with minors in a special education center.
According to the ruling, this woman who was a child education technician at a special education center began to suffer a progressive loss of vision, to which severe pain was added due to fibromyalgia, which led to a depressive disorder, which she had been suffering from for more than 10 years. Due to this worsening of his physical and emotional state, he decided to request permanent disability from Social Security, but it was denied.
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In this sense, the Disability Assessment Team (EVI) explained that the injuries she suffered “were not susceptible to objective determination or foreseeably definitive,” and that the worker should continue under medical treatment. In other words, Social Security understood that his ailments could still improve and did not reach the level necessary to be considered permanent.
Given this refusal and added to the claims rejected by Social Security, the worker decided to take her situation to court. Thus, in the first instance, the Social Court number 3 of Pontevedra agreed with him and declared that his total permanent incapacity for his usual profession should be recognized. The Social Security appealed this decision, but the Superior Court of Justice of Galicia once again ruled in favor of this teacher and her right to receive permanent disability.
Incapacity for the fundamental tasks of your profession
Social Security maintained that the woman could still carry out her work because “the therapeutic possibilities had not been exhausted” and she had been on medical leave for a short time. Even so, the court itself explained that the plaintiff had already had a chronic depressive disorder since 2013, which was linked to pain and loss of vision, which prevented her from carrying out her work “with performance and effectiveness” in a position that requires great responsibility, constant attention and night shifts.
As the sentence itself explains, the mental illness “permanently incapacitates her for the development of her profession, especially when she works in a special education center with minors, which subjects the plaintiff to great responsibility and tension.”
Inability to carry out your usual profession
To understand this ruling, we must know that in this case, the court did not focus only on the diagnosed illnesses, but on how these really affect the worker’s ability to work. It was determined that the combination of fibromyalgia, vision problems and emotional deterioration make it impossible for him to continue performing his profession with the required continuity and effectiveness.
For this reason, the TSJ confirmed that she had the right to total permanent disability derived from a common illness, which implies that she will not be able to continue working as a preschool teacher, but she will be able to work in another profession as long as it is compatible with her illnesses. As for the amount, it will be 55% of the regulatory base set at 1,243.97 euros per month.