Watkins Motor Lines, Inc. v. Privette

The employer/carrier appeal an award of temporary total disability benefits and attorney’s fees. We reverse.

Claimant, a truck driver, sustained a com-pensable industrial accident on July 30, 1980, when a 600 pound drum slipped and pinned his right hand against the side of the truck. The claimant visited a doctor. Surgery was recommended, but the claimant refused on the grounds that he could not live on workers’ compensation payments for the six to eight weeks required for recovery. He continued to work until February of 1981, at which time he quit because his hand was too painful. After…