The Superior Court of Justice of Extremadura has ruled in favor of a mechanic and has recognized his right to receive a permanent disability pension in its entirety, contrary to what the National Social Security Institute (INSS) considered. The court reviewed his medical limitations (such as spinal and clavicle problems) in relation to the requirements of his particular profession, concluding that he is unable to perform the essential functions of his job.
It all started when the man requested the INSS for a declaration of disability. He Disability Assessment Team (EVI) proposed not to classify him as permanently disabled, with the INSS Provincial Directorate accepting said proposal. Given this, the affected person complained, but his claim was rejected.
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Once the administrative route was exhausted, he decided to file a lawsuit before the Social Court No. 2 of Cáceres, who rejected it, agreeing with Social Security. As he was still not satisfied, he went one step further and filed an appeal before the Superior Court of Justice of Extremadura. This was based on a single reason, based on article 193 of the Law Regulating Social Jurisdiction (LRJS), denouncing the violation of articles 193 and 194 of the Consolidated Text of the General Law of Social Security and the jurisprudential doctrine relating to the concept of total permanent disability.
The functional limitations of the mechanic and his work
As stated in ruling 583/2025, the Forensic Medical Examiner’s report determined that the worker suffered from the following ailments: wedging fracture of L3 with significant osteophytes at L2-L3-L4-L5, fracture of the clavicle and right radius, fracture of the distal pole of the scaphoid of the left hand, mechanical low back pain, disc protrusion at the level L4-L5 with slight foraminal stenosis, predominantly sensory, axonal and mild-moderate demyelinating polyneuropathy, mild bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic left L5 radiculopathy, calcification of the right supraspinatus with associated tendonitis, and inflammation and redness of the wrist with significant functional limitation to flexion-extension.
These pathologies, according to the same report, were limiting for the usual profession of workshop mechanic and, in general, limited the performance of activities that required moderate-severe physical effort; repeated bending-raising movements; loading and moving heavy objects; prolonged ambulation and/or standing; wandering on uneven terrain; and precision manual activities.
The TSJ of Extremadura recognizes his total permanent disability
The Social Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Extremadura reviewed the aforementioned limitations in relation to the requirements of the worker’s profession, mechanic, based on the INSS Assessment Guide itself. From this analysis, they concluded that the man could not perform the functions of his professional activity, “since precision work, static standing, the need to repeatedly bend down and stand up, and moderate-severe physical effort are inherent to it.”
For this reason, they upheld the employee’s appeal and revoked the previous ruling, recognizing his right to receive a total permanent disability pension, derived from a common illness.