Frans v. Waldinger Corp., 946 N.W.2d 666

In 2002 Frans was struck on the head by a garage door at work and initially reported head, neck, and back injuries.
In 2008 Frans and his employer Waldinger entered a settlement resolving all issues except Frans’ entitlement to future reasonable and necessary medical treatment for his low-back condition arising from the 2002 accident; the petition was dismissed.
Years later Frans filed an amended petition seeking reimbursement for ongoing medical treatment for his low back and for depression and anxiety he alleged arose from the back injury; he also sought treatment for head and neck injuries.
The Workers’ Compensation Court awarded reimbursement for prescribed low-back treatment and physical therapy, and also found sufficient evidence that depression and anxiety were caused by the low-back condition; it denied recovery for head and neck treatment.
The Court of Appeals agreed the settlement did not bar psychiatric treatment if causally related to the back, but found insufficient evidence that depression/anxiety were caused by the back and reversed on that issue; the Court of Appeals’ opinion then directed dismissal of Frans’ amended petition in its entirety.
The Nebraska Supreme Court granted further review solely on whether the Court of Appeals erred by directing dismissal of the entire amended petition, and modified the Court of Appeals’ mandate to direct dismissal only as to the depression/anxiety and head/neck claims while affirming the remainder.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the Court of Appeals properly directed dismissal of Frans’ entire amended petition on remand	Frans: Entire petition should not be dismissed because the Court of Appeals did not reverse the compensation court’s award for low-back treatment	Waldinger: The Court of Appeals’ opinion should be read to direct dismissal only of the claims for depression/anxiety (and related non-back claims)	Supreme Court: Modified Court of Appeals’ mandate — dismissal directed only for depression/anxiety and head/neck claims; remainder (low-back award) affirmed
Whether evidence supported recovery for depression and anxiety causally related to the low-back condition	Frans: Evidence sufficed to show depression/anxiety resulted from his back condition	Waldinger: Evidence was insufficient to establish causal connection	Court of Appeals: Evidence insufficient; those claims to be dismissed (Supreme Court left that disposition intact)

Rogers v. Jack’s Supper Club, 304 Neb. 605 (2019) (appellate courts make their own determinations as to questions of law in workers’ compensation cases)
TransCanada Keystone Pipeline v. Tanderup, 305 Neb. 493 (2020) (a lower court must follow specific instructions in an appellate mandate and may not deviate on remand)