Willuhn v. Omaha Box Co

In Willuhn v. Omaha Box Co., 240 Neb. 571, 483 N.W.2d 130 (1992), the plaintiff had completed only his sophomore year in high school and thereafter had a work experience exclusively as a driver of large trucks. Interviews established him to be "very smart," with a good potential for training. The medical experts testified that he was employable within his physical restrictions. He was awarded TTD to the date he reached MMI. The Willuhn court said that such a finding does not necessarily mean he was not totally disabled within the meaning of the workers' compensation law, because total disability "'means disablement of an employee to earn wages in the same kind of work, or work of a similar nature, that he or she was trained for or accustomed to perform, or any other kind of work which a person of his or her mentality and attainments could do.'" The Willuhn court stated the "very nature of the restrictions precludes plaintiff from earning similar wages in the same kind of work, or work of a similar nature, that he was trained for or accustomed to perform: freight hauling and transportation." Id. at 575, 483 N.W.2d at 134.