Rebutting the PDRS with Vocational Evidence: Where Are We Now?

MARK GEARHEART, ESQ.

Pleasant Hill, California

As a preliminary matter, it is important to distinguish between rebutting the Permanent Disability Rating Schedule (PDRS) itself and proving permanent total disability "in accordance with the fact" under Labor Code section 4662. The latter is not rebutting the schedule; it is a separate method to prove permanent total disability. This article focuses on the use of vocational evidence to rebut the PDRS.

Although the Labor Code has long provided that the rating schedule is rebuttable (see Labor Code §§4660, 4660.1), the Labor Code does not specify any method for that rebuttal. The courts have developed the methodology through case law.