Using a Functional Capacity Evaluation In A Serious Injury Case

In a case involving serious injuries which threaten to impair or impede altogether one’s ability to be gainfully employed, a Functional Capacity Evaluation can be critical in helping to establish the extent of the disability. Functional Capacity Evaluations are performed according to objective criteria which have been proven to be reliable in determining the extent of job related restrictions and limitations. If a client submits to a Functional Capacity Evaluation and is proven by such objective criteria to have limited abilities, such evidence can be critical in helping to convince a jury of the legitimacy of the claim. This can be extremely important in cases where someone complains of neck or back pain, for example. It is often difficult for a jury to understand the degree to which someone is suffering from neck or back pain. Such claims can be embellished or magnified, but a Functional Capacity Evaluation performed by a competent practitioner can weed out claims of embellishment and malingering because the test as designed can detect such claims as opposed to legitimate claims.
In a case where someone has a legitimate back or neck injury and they are truly restricted in their activities, a Functional Capacity Evaluation can help to establish the extent of the restrictions and limitations and can help prove the degree to which the pain caused by the neck or back injury is limiting the victim’s ability to engage in gainful activity. If a client cannot work, for example, and is reduced to sedentary activities, this can be demonstrated on a Functional Capacity Evaluation.
We recommend to our seriously injured clients in many contexts that they voluntarily submit to a Functional Capacity Evaluation. Because such tests are based on objective criteria, when a client is truly seriously injured a Functional Capacity Evaluation will confirm or corroborate claims of serious bodily injury.