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| 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
Use of average statistics |
| 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:
Wednesday March 15, 2006 10:55 AM |
