“Eman at Yazdchi Law was extremely professional, responsive, and supportive at all times. He and his staff exceeded all of my expectations.”
Andrea Dalessandro
✦ Board-Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation Law — State Bar of California ✦
Back injuries are the #1 workers’ comp claim in California — and among the most undervalued.
By Eman Yazdchi, Esq. · Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law
Back injuries are the most common and most disputed category of workers' compensation claim in Rosamond. The community's two dominant industries — wind energy and aerospace defense — place extraordinary physical demands on the spine. Wind turbine technicians employed by Vestas, GE Renewable Energy, and their subcontractors climb towers hundreds of feet tall, often carrying heavy tools, and work in awkward positions inside nacelles. Civilian maintenance workers at Edwards Air Force Base lift aircraft components, work in sustained bent or overhead postures, and absorb vibration from heavy equipment. Over time, these physical demands cause disc herniations, degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, and nerve compression injuries.
Insurance companies fight back injury claims harder than almost any other type because the injuries are expensive and often require surgery. The defense is predictable: they argue your back condition is degenerative and age-related, not caused by work. California law under LC §4660 requires permanent disability ratings to be calculated using the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, 5th Edition — and LC §4663 addresses apportionment, the process by which insurers try to reduce your rating by attributing a percentage of your disability to non-work factors.
Attorney Eman Yazdchi fights apportionment and undervalued ratings for Rosamond back injury claimants at the Bakersfield WCAB. Our office is 20 minutes south on the 14 Freeway, and we regularly handle Kern County back injury claims involving the physically demanding occupations that define Rosamond's economy.
The value of your Rosamond back injury claim depends on three factors: the medical rating of your permanent impairment, any apportionment to pre-existing conditions, and the occupation-based adjustments that reflect how the injury affects your ability to work. Understanding each factor is critical to ensuring you receive full compensation.
Once you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI), a physician evaluates your permanent impairment using the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, 5th Edition. For spinal injuries, the rating considers range of motion loss, radiculopathy (nerve symptoms radiating into the legs), the results of MRI and other diagnostic imaging, and the specific spinal levels affected. A lumbar disc herniation at L4-L5 with radiculopathy, for example, generates a higher whole-person impairment rating than a lumbar strain without nerve involvement.
For Rosamond wind turbine technicians and Edwards AFB maintenance workers, the rating physician must understand the specific physical demands of your job. We ensure the evaluating doctor receives a detailed description of your work activities — climbing, lifting, sustained postures, vibration exposure — so the rating accurately reflects the functional impact of your back injury.
Apportionment is the process by which the insurer reduces your permanent disability rating by claiming that some percentage of your back condition is due to non-work factors — age, genetics, prior injuries, or natural degeneration. Under LC §4663, a physician must determine what portion of your disability is caused by your work injury versus other factors. Insurance companies aggressively push for maximum apportionment on every Rosamond back injury claim.
We fight unfair apportionment by establishing that your work duties were the predominant cause of your current back condition. For a wind turbine technician who climbed towers for 10 years, the cumulative physical demand is overwhelming evidence that work — not aging — caused the disc herniation. For an Edwards AFB ground crew member who lifted heavy aircraft components daily, the connection between job duties and spinal injury is equally clear. The key is building a medical record that documents this causation with specificity.
Your permanent disability rating is adjusted based on your occupation group under LC §4658. A back injury that produces a 20% whole-person impairment generates a significantly higher permanent disability percentage — and a larger dollar award — for a wind turbine technician or aircraft mechanic than for a sedentary office worker. This is because the impairment has greater functional impact on workers whose jobs require climbing, lifting, bending, and sustained physical exertion. Rosamond's high-physical-demand occupations consistently produce favorable occupation group adjustments.
Injured at work in Rosamond? Call (661) 273-1780
Tap to call →Insurers use apportionment under LC §4663 to reduce back injury awards by blaming age or genetics. We counter this by documenting how your specific work duties — climbing, lifting, vibration exposure — caused your condition. Medical evidence from treating physicians and QME/AME evaluations establishes work causation.
Rosamond lacks local orthopedic and spinal specialists. Most back injury treatment occurs at facilities in Lancaster and Palmdale, including orthopedic surgeons, pain management clinics, and physical therapy providers. All treatment and transportation costs are covered by workers' comp under LC §4600.
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