Nebraska Supreme Court rules on COVID-19 workers’ compensation claim

In a recent decision, the Nebraska Supreme Court overturned the denial of a woman’s workers’ compensation claim for a COVID-19 infection.

Nurse contracts COVID-19

Christine Thiele contracted COVID-19 in April 2020 while working as a nurse liaison at a critical care recovery hospital in Omaha. She filed a petition in the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court alleging that COVID-19 is an occupational disease caused by her work and that she was entitled to benefits as a result of her exposure. “Occupational disease” is defined in Section 48-151(3) as “disease which is due to causes and conditions which are characteristic of and peculiar to a particular trade, occupation, process, or employment, and excludes all ordinary diseases of life to which the general public is exposed.”

Initially, the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Board denied Thiele’s claim, ruling that COVID-19 was not an occupational disease. However, she appealed, and the Nebraska Supreme Court reversed the dismissal of her case, finding that COVID-19 was still rare enough when she contracted it to be considered a particular risk for healthcare workers.

The court’s decision was split 4-3. The lead opinion found the trial judge shouldn’t have dismissed Thiele’s claim. Three justices dissented with the reasoning and the result of the lead opinion. Ultimately, the decision doesn’t resolve the ongoing debate about whether COVID-19 can be considered an occupational disease under the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act.

New legal principle