Court Opinion

ID: 9742964
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:23:28.122419+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:22:23.913393
License: Public Domain

Irwin, Judge,
dissenting in part.
Although I agree with the majority’s conclusions in most respects, I respectfully dissent from that portion of the majority opinion which reverses the review panel’s holding concerning Scott’s average weekly wage. I agree with the review panel that *648“ ‘abnormally low work weeks’ ” may be excluded from the compensation court’s calculation of the average weekly wage only when the record presents a sufficient explanation regarding the weeks in question. I respectfully disagree from the majority’s conclusion that “[n]owhere in Canas [v. Maryland Cas. Co., 236 Neb. 164, 459 N.W.2d 533 (1990),] does the Nebraska Supreme Court suggest that a trial court cannot examine a worker’s wage statement and exclude abnormally low workweeks without testimony regarding why the workweeks were abnormally low.”
In Canas, the issue specifically presented to the Nebraska Supreme Court was not whether certain weeks should be excluded from the average weekly wage calculation, but, rather, how the compensation court should “average” the employee’s weekly wage during the relevant weeks. Nonetheless, in recognizing that certain weeks in that case should be excluded, the court stated:
In the 26 weeks preceding the accident, each of [the employee’s] workweeks was not less than 44.03 hours or more than 50.87 hours, with seven exceptions. In those 7 weeks, [the employee] worked 20.77, 37.43, 34.75, 14.35, 36.63, 7.78, and 36.75 hours, respectively. It is uncontroverted that [the employee ’5] shortened workweeks were due to vacation time incurred in moving his family from Texas to Nebraska, sick leave, and holidays.
(Emphasis supplied.) Id. at 167, 459 N.W.2d at 536-37. Although not essential to the holding in Canas, the court specifically recited evidence in the record which explained why those specific workweeks were abnormally low.
Similarly, in Clifford v. Harchelroad Chevrolet, 229 Neb. 78, 425 N.W.2d 331 (1988), the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the review panel’s holding in which it excluded from the average weekly wage calculation certain weeks as abnormally low workweeks. A review of the opinion in Clifford, however, indicates that the court recognized that most of the excluded weeks were during a time period when the employee’s illness prevented him from working. After examining two specific exhibits, the court noted that the specific weeks should be excluded. Again, the court’s discussion suggests that the exhibits demonstrated a reason for the abnormally low workweeks and recognizes that the bulk of them *649were due to illness. Although the suggestion was, again, not central to the court’s holding, the court’s discussion in Clifford further suggests that the record should include some explanation for an abnormally low workweek before the week should be excluded from the average weekly wage calculation.
Although I recognize that no opinion of the Nebraska Supreme Court specifically holds that the record must contain an explanation for an abnormally low workweek before that week may be excluded from the average weekly wage calculation, I also note that the majority points to no authority specifically holding that such is not required. Inasmuch as there is no specific holding of the Nebraska Supreme Court on this matter, I look to the discussion in both Canas and Clifford and see, at the very least, a suggestion that such is required. Accordingly, I would affirm the review panel’s holding on this issue.