Nebraska Supreme Court clarifies employment-at-will, public-policy exceptions

Nebraska, like many jurisdictions, provides employees with a common-law protection against employment termination in violation of certain public policies. Primarily, the protections allow employees to report violations of the law or engage in conduct where public policy mandates it should be freely allowed without negative workplace consequences. Key to this doctrine is that no other law or statute provides an adequate remedy. A recent Nebraska Supreme Court case clarifies these principles and provides a good example of when such a claim can or can’t result in recovery for a suing employee.

Audit, investigation lead to termination

York Surgical Associates P.C. (YSA) employed Terri Dibbern in an administrative capacity. She was tasked with Medicare coding for patient visits or procedures. In February 2020, YSA learned that the federal Office of the Inspector General (OIG) was opening an audit into its billing practices concerning its Medicare patients.

For the impending audit, YSA retained three attorneys, who worked to determine the likelihood of exposure for the company. A second-phase internal investigation found that 73% of the claims under review by the OIG were being “upcoded,” a term for when a medical provider increases the code number to receive a larger reimbursement than allowed, strongly suggesting fraudulent behavior.