| Full Citation | Vincent William Michels v. United States of America; No. 4-91-CV-30096 |
| Court | District Court, S.D. Iowa, C.D. |
| Facts of Case | Male, college freshman injured in a vehicular accident resulting in severe leg and hip injuries; has severe limp, walks slowly, has severe pain when climbing stairs, and has difficulty with prolonged sitting, standing, and walking |
| Challenge Issues |
No support for the economist's determination of work disability Worklife tables used were published prior to passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act Misunderstanding of the definition of work disability |
| VEI Observation | The court disallowed the use of the tables by an economist. The
economist used the tables to quantify a loss of worklife expectancy,
despite the fact that the vocational rehabilitation expert opined that
there was no loss of worklife expectancy in the case. In addition, the court objected to the worklife publication used by the economist because it was an older version produced before the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The data now used were gathered after passage of the ADA. The court also stated that the tables used data for persons with at least a 5% whole body impairment or who were eligible for Social Security benefits. The U.S. Census Bureau’s definition of work disability does not consider percent of whole body impairment, and eligibility for Social Security is only one factor out of seven that are included in the definition. |
| Results | Opinion (March 18, 1993) |
Last modified: Tuesday October 14, 2008 03:28 PM