A-18-993, Gregory J. Webber (Appellant) v. Gregory J. Webber, employer, and Vanliner Insurance Company
Workers’ Compensation Court, Judge James R. Coe
Attorney for Appellant: Travis Allan Spier (Atwood, Holsten, Brown, Deaver & Spier Law Firm, P.C., L.L.O.)
Attorneys for Appellee: Jennifer S. Caswell and Jenna M. Christensen (Baylor Evnen, LLP)
Workers’ Compensation Action
Action Taken by Trial Court: Webber is employed as a “relocation specialist.” While checking on a trailer load he was to deliver at a warehouse in Omaha, Nebraska, instead of hooking up the trailer and continuing on his route, he exited his truck and lit off a firework. The firework exploded in his hands, causing injuries to both his hands. The Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court determined Webber’s injuries did not arise out of his employment. The court also found that Webber’s actions leading to his injuries constituted willful negligence barring recovery under the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act.
Assignments of Error on Appeal: Webber assigns that the Workers’ Compensation Court erred by: (1) failing to apply the Varela v. Fisher Roofing Co., Inc., 253 Neb. 667 (1998), horseplay analysis to this case to find Webber’s injuries arose out of and in the course of his employment, (2) failing to follow binding precedent from Varela, (3) concluding Webber’s injury did not arise out of and in the course of his employment, (4) reaching the willful negligence issue because it was inappropriate and unnecessary dicta, (5) concluding Webber’s subject conduct rose to the level of willful negligence under the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act, (6) finding there was sufficient, competent evidence in the record to support its findings concerning willful negligence, and (7) failing in its obligation to construe provisions of the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act liberally to carry out the Act’s purpose of relieving injured workers from the adverse economic effects of an injury.