Which permanent disability is presumed to be total in character?

• A. Loss of the use of both hands
• B. Loss of both legs above the knee
• C. Loss of sight in an eye
• D. Serious brain injury

Answer: (A)

In California workers’ compensation, some permanent disabilities are automatically treated as total permanent disability because they leave a worker unable to perform any substantial gainful work. The one that is classically automatic is the loss of the use of both hands. When both hands are nonfunctional, almost all types of work become impossible, so the system presumes total disability without needing additional evidence about earning capacity.

The other options don’t carry that automatic presumption. Losing sight in a single eye leaves one eye functional, and many jobs can still be done with accommodations or with the remaining eye. A serious brain injury or loss of both legs above the knee can be severely disabling, but they don’t have a blanket automatic presumption of total disability—the determination depends on medical and vocational evidence about actual ability to work.