The Superior Court of Justice of Madrid has ruled in favor of a supervisor of the chemical and pharmaceutical industry who, after being disabled by various chronic ailments, requested recognition of an absolute permanent disability derived from common disease. Initially, Social Security had only granted her a total permanent disability, but the worker argued that her health condition, marked by severe psoriasis, sudden deafness, Sjögren’s syndrome and hidradenitis suppurativa, prevented her from carrying out any work activity. After evaluating the case, the court has recognized his right to the benefit, taking into account right to a lifetime pension of 3,165.89 euroswith retroactive effect from April 2021.
The worker, born in 1968, had been affiliated with the General Social Security Regime and worked as a supervisor in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. His His work career was interrupted due to the worsening of various chronic ailments that seriously affected his functional capacity. (those discussed in the previous paragraph). Due to this, in January 2021, he requested that Social Security recognize his permanent disability.
The worker had a clinical condition that included active psoriasis, Sjögren’s syndrome, hidradenitis suppurativa, sudden deafness and other related problems, such as urinary incontinence and cervicoarthrosis. According to medical reports, these pathologies caused chronic pain, intense fatigue, and significant limitations in mobility and functional capacity. affecting both basic activities and any work taskeven sedentary in nature.
After this, the Disability Assessment Team (EVI) determined that his situation was compatible with a total permanent disability for his usual profession, but not absolute (that is, he would be entitled to 55% of the regulatory base and not 100%). ). Given this resolution, the worker filed a prior claim, which was also rejected, leading her to go to court.
Despite this initial medical report, the Medical Court determined that although the pathologies were severe, they allowed the worker to carry out sedentary activities if she had access to hygienic services, in other words the requirements to access total, but not absolute, disability. Despite the resolution, the worker argued that the dermatological conditions, episodes of severe pain and urinary incontinence prevented her from carrying out any task in a sustained manner, in addition to seriously impacting her quality of life.
Limitations for absolute permanent disability
In the first instance, the case was initially resolved by the Social Court no. 36 of Madrid, which dismissed the worker’s claim. The court determined that the worker could carry out sedentary work activities, as long as she had access to adequate hygienic services. Likewise, it was pointed out that the limitations described did not absolutely prevent their participation in professional tasks of low physical demand. Not satisfied, he decided to take his case to a higher court for a petition.
In the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid, the medical reports presented and the evidence provided were assessed, concluding this time that the plaintiff did meet the requirements to be recognized as having an absolute permanent disability. The decision was based on article 194.1 of the General Social Security Law (LGSS), which establishes that said degree of disability is granted when injuries or illnesses completely incapacitate the worker to carry out any profession or trade.
The court noted that the functional impairment and the cumulative impact of the pathologies were incompatible with any work activityincluding sedentary ones, since pain, fatigue, and the constant need for medical attention made sustained performance impossible. Likewise, the lack of improvement despite the treatments applied was taken into account.
Right to a pension of 3,165.89 euros
In this way, the TSJ of Madrid revoked the initial resolution of the Social Security and determined that the worker had the right to receive a pension for absolute permanent disability equivalent to 100% of its regulatory base, set at 3,165.89 euros per month. In addition, the economic effects must be retracted from April 29, 2021, the date on which the initial administrative resolution was issued.