In an ethnographic study of work-related back injury, the problem of legitimacy was a central feature of workers' experiences. Injured workers encountered suspicion in their workplaces regarding the validity of their claims to back injury and their need for compensable time off work. The experience was associated, in most instances, with damaged relations at work and jeopardized job security. Underpinning workers' experience were the nature of medical knowledge on back injuries and the design of the workers' compensation system. The relationship of this analysis to the issues of malingering and moral evaluation in the workplace is examined, as is the possibility that the problem of legitimacy contributes to chronic disability from work-related back injury.
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