Supreme Court Overturns Payment of $0 on Employer's Subrogation Lien

The Nebraska Supreme Court last week ruled that an allocation of $0 for an employer’s subrogation claim was “legally untenable” when the employer’s interest far exceeded the amount of the worker’s recovery from a third-party tortfeasor. Norman Kroemer had agreed to settle his civil action for the near-total loss of vision in his left eye in exchange for a payment of $150,000. His employer objected to the deal, but a trial judge signed off on it. Then, when the judge divvied up the recovery, he allocated nothing to the employer’s lien of $207,555. The Supre...