In a PD calculation scenario with serious misconduct, what is the Board's likely award?

• A. 36%
• B. the dollar value of 1/2 of 72 percent
• C. 72%
• D. nothing

Answer: (C)

Permanent disability awards are given as a percentage of impairment based on the official impairment schedule. When serious misconduct is involved, it doesn’t eliminate the PD award or halve it; it still falls under the impairment rating framework. In a scenario described with serious misconduct, the level of impairment typically lands in a high bracket on the schedule, which corresponds to about 72%. This reflects substantial, but not total, permanent disability.

Saying the result would be 36% would imply a much lower impairment than the scenario suggests. The dollar value of half of 72 percent isn’t how PD is expressed—PD is the percentage of impairment, not a dollar figure. And nothing would be awarded only if there were no permanent impairment, which isn’t the case here. So the 72% figure aligns with a substantial impairment assessment under the PD schedule in a serious misconduct context.