Opinion ID: 2134398
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Employer Release

Text: The District first argues that Skinner's exclusive remedy against the District is under the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act and that under the act, the District has been released from all claims arising from Skinner's injury. For this argument, the District cites Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-148 (Reissue 1998), which states: If any employee ... of any employer subject to the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act files any claim with, or accepts any payment from such employer, or from any insurance company carrying such risk, on account of personal injury, or makes any agreement, or submits any question to the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court under such act, such action shall constitute a release to such employer of all claims or demands at law, if any, arising from such injury. The District argues that because Skinner submitted an Employee's Report to the District's insurance company, and because she received and cashed four out of five workers' compensation checks from the insurer, the District is released under § 48-148 and that Skinner therefore cannot proceed in tort against the District. Indeed, the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act is an employee's exclusive remedy against an employer for an injury arising out of and in the course of employment. Levander v. Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, 257 Neb. 283, 596 N.W.2d 705 (1999). An employee cannot normally maintain a negligence suit against his or her employer regarding an injury arising out of and in the course of employment; his or her sole remedy is a claim for workers' compensation. Id. However, the District's argument begs the question whether the act applies at all. The language in § 48-148, in specifying an employee who is subject to the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act files any claim, means that the statute covers only claims arising out of and in the course of employment, i.e., claims to which the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act applies. See Marlow v. Maple Manor Apartments, 193 Neb. 654, 228 N.W.2d 303 (1975) (construing similar language contained in predecessor to § 48-148 to cover only claims to which act applies). Thus, before we can determine that the District is released under § 48-148, we must determine whether the act applies. We note that the trial court stated in its order on summary judgment that the workers' compensation payments made to Skinner in the weeks following the injury could be set off against the judgment for damages in the negligence case. The payments were not made by the District; rather, they were made by the District's workers' compensation insurer. While the insurer may have a subrogation claim to recover the payments from Skinner, the payments may not be set off against the judgment in the negligence action.