Opinion ID: 2043003
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: benefits payable to roan eagle

Text: Apparently alluding to Roan Eagle's abortive effort to work for the State as an operator of a power lawnmower and Dr. Wilkinson's reference to Roan Eagle's disability as a whole person, the State argues that the Workers' Compensation Court erred in awarding Roan Eagle benefits for total disability after July 25, 1989, the date of Dr. Wilkinson's evaluation of Roan Eagle's injury and disability. Bearing in mind that Roan Eagle was a wrangler, we fail to see any similarity between a power lawnmower and a horse. Even though horses eat hay, sitting astraddle those animals is anything but soft. With the left foot in a stirrup, swinging the right leg over a horse's back and settling into the saddle for hours of riding does place a strain on a rider's legs and hips and is far more physically strenuous than doing a turn around the turf on a power mower. Dr. Wilkinson has displayed a keener insight into the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act than has the State, for he recognized that a physical impairment rating... is not a disability rating as a patient with a small impairment may have a large disability, depending on his education and pain tolerance and the type of work that he does. Dr. Wilkinson's observations about a disability coincide with this court's expressions concerning compensable total disability. See Sherard v. Bethphage Mission, Inc., 236 Neb. 900, 464 N.W.2d 343 (1991). Moreover, in reference to disability, we have stated that an employee's disability is not necessarily determined by a physician's evaluation and assessment of the employee's loss of bodily function. Heiliger v. Walters & Heiliger Electric, Inc., 236 Neb. 459, 470, 461 N.W.2d 565, 573 (1990). Accord Sherard v. Bethphage Mission, Inc., supra . In view of the record and the standard of review for this court, we cannot conclude that the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court, as the sole judge of witness credibility and the weight to be given a witness' testimony, was clearly erroneous in its finding that Roan Eagle is presently totally disabled and entitled to periodic payments for total disability until there is a determination whether Roan Eagle has sustained a permanent impairment of earning power or earning capacity on account of any disability to his body as a whole. See Neb.Rev. Stat. ß 48-121(1) and (2) (Reissue 1988). In the course of periodic payment of benefits to Roan Eagle, the State may seek a modification of the award if there is information justifying a modification. See Neb.Rev. Stat. ß 48-141 (Reissue 1988). In the meantime, the anatomical fact remains: In the design of the articulating surfaces of the human hip, there is no tolerance for a protruding lag screw.