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Nebraska high court rejects widow’s comp death benefits claim - Business Insurance Skip to content Register for free Search Search Log In Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Nebraska high court rejects widow’s comp death benefits claim by Louise Esola Claims Disputes , Workers Comp Coverage , Workplace Safety May 26, 2026 The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the denial of workers compensation death benefits to the widow of a truck driver and farm laborer whose work-related hip injury delayed cancer treatment before his death. In Kristine Hastreiter v. Foltz Brothers Inc. and Farm Bureau Property & Casualty Insurance Co., the high court held that the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court did not err in finding that Ms. Hastreiter failed to prove her husband’s workplace injury proximately caused his death. Thomas Hastreiter, who worked for Foltz Brothers, was diagnosed in December 2021 with urothelial carcinoma. He continued working and, on Sept. 26, 2022, fell at work and injured his left hip, according to the ruling. While hospitalized for the hip injury, Mr. Hastreiter learned his cancer had spread. His oncologist recommended immunotherapy after he recovered from the hip injury, but Mr. Hastreiter underwent hip surgery, developed an infection and never received the cancer treatment. He died Dec. 14, 2022. His death certificate listed progressive metastatic cancer as the immediate cause of death and said complications and infection from the hip injury delayed treatment, resulting in progression of the cancer. Ms. Hastreiter sought death benefits, arguing that the compensable hip injury prevented her husband from receiving treatment that would have extended his life. Foltz Brothers and its insurer stipulated that the hip injury arose out of and in the course of employment but disputed that it caused or contributed to his death. The compensation court denied death benefits, finding that the evidence did not show the work injury caused, aggravated or accelerated the cancer. It also found the expert testimony on whether treatment would have prolonged Mr. Hastreiter’s life too speculative. The Supreme Court said it did not need to decide whether a lost chance to extend life can support a death benefits claim under Nebraska workers compensation law. Even assuming such a theory were valid, Ms. Hastreiter still had to prove through sufficiently definite medical testimony that her husband would have lived longer had he received the treatment, the court said. The court noted that one oncologist said treatment “may” have prolonged Mr. Hastreiter’s life, while another said he “may have lived longer” without the hip injury, surgery and infection. Under Nebraska law, expert medical testimony based on “could,” “may” or “possibly” is not definite enough to support a workers compensation award, the court said. The Supreme Court also said the compensation court was not required to credit expert testimony estimating that Mr. Hastreiter might have survived three to six months with treatment. 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