The High Court of Justice of Castilla y León (TSJCyL) has recognized the absolute permanent disability to a worker, a graphic designer, who suffers from headaches and other symptoms caused by Covid-19.
The TSJCyL thus confirms a previous decision of the Social Court of Burgos, which had already ruled in favor of the employee and awarded her 100% of her pension, i.e. 1,889.92 eurosThe National Social Security Institute (INSS) had opposed this judicial decision, but its appeal was unsuccessful.
The woman worked as a graphic designer at the Official Gazette of the province and applied for temporary disability in August 2021, after being infected with Covid-19. The disease caused her a chronic headache, which still persists today, and which prevents him from concentratingwhich makes his work difficult and, according to the sentence, is “refractory to any treatment”.
The complainant, aged 57, also has “an adaptive disorder and cognitive deficit, attention difficulties, a slight memory deficit, a limitation in carrying out high-responsibility activities” and stress. This is what is indicated in the TSJCyL ruling of 24 July.
As explained by judges María José Renedo, Juan Carlos Galán and María Jesús Martín, the symptoms he suffers “correspond to the neuropsychological profiles of patients with cognitive deficits after being infected.” That is why the maintenance of these symptoms, once the virus that causes the disease is no longer present in an organism, is called persistent Covid.
The Castilian-Leonese TSJ also specifies that the tasks carried out by the complainant as a graphic and multimedia designer “are those of her profession”. “And they require concentration, intellectual work and use of data display screens” he adds.
For this reason, continuous headaches make illusory “ordinary and usual performance, with adequate performance and without extraordinary sacrifices, in any profession.”
If the woman continues to work, the judges predict that she will suffer “conditions of almost permanent discomfort and pain.” They thus approve the decision issued by the Social Court number 3 of Burgos and confirm that the plaintiff must receive 100% of her pension due to her absolute permanent disability. The INSS can appeal this decision of the TSJCyL before the Supreme Court.
