Article 36: COVID-19 Liability Act · Last amended 2021 · Last verified July 22, 2026
In one sentenceThis section clarifies that the COVID-19 Liability Act neither creates nor eliminates any element of a claim, does not affect workers’ compensation rights or coverage, does not disturb existing statutory or common-law immunities, and does not waive the state’s sovereign immunity.
Full Text of § 25-3604
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The COVID-19 Liability Act shall not be construed to: (1) Create, recognize, or ratify a claim or cause of action of any kind; (2) Eliminate or satisfy a required element of a claim or cause of action of any
kind; (3) Affect rights or coverage limits under the Nebraska Workers' Compensation
Act; (4) Abrogate, amend, repeal, alter, or affect any statutory or common law
immunity or limitation of liability; or (5) Constitute a waiver of the sovereign immunity of the State of Nebraska or
any political subdivision of the state.
Source
Laws 2021, LB139, § 4.
Cross References
Health Care Crisis Protocol Act, see section 71-2701. Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act, see section 48-1,110.
Plain-English Summary
Section 25-3604 is a construction clause that keeps the COVID-19 Liability Act narrow. The Act is not to be construed to create, recognize, or ratify any claim or cause of action, and it is not to be construed to eliminate or satisfy any required element of an existing claim or cause of action. In other words, the Act only limits liability under the terms of section 25-3603; it does not hand anyone a new basis to sue, and it does not quietly remove something a plaintiff would otherwise have to prove.
The section also protects three other legal frameworks from being read into or out of existence by the Act. It does not affect rights or coverage limits under the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act, so an employee’s workers’ compensation claim for a workplace COVID-19 exposure proceeds under that separate system unaffected. It does not abrogate, amend, repeal, alter, or affect any statutory or common-law immunity or limitation of liability that already existed apart from this Act. And it does not waive the sovereign immunity of the State of Nebraska or any of its political subdivisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Act give anyone a new right to sue over COVID-19?
No. Section 25-3604 states the Act is not to be construed to create, recognize, or ratify any claim or cause of action.
Does the Act affect workers’ compensation claims for COVID-19 exposure at work?
No. It states the Act does not affect rights or coverage limits under the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act.
Does the Act take away any existing legal immunity a defendant already had?
No. It provides that the Act does not abrogate, amend, repeal, alter, or affect any existing statutory or common-law immunity or limitation of liability.
Does the Act waive the state’s sovereign immunity?
No. It expressly states the Act does not constitute a waiver of the sovereign immunity of the State of Nebraska or any political subdivision.
Why does the Act include this “how construed” section at all?
To keep the liability limit in section 25-3603 from being read more broadly than intended — as a narrow defense tied to compliance with federal guidance, not a wholesale rewrite of claims, workers’ compensation law, or immunity doctrines.
Source & verification. Section text and the amendment-history citation are
reproduced verbatim from the Nebraska Legislature, Revisor of Statutes, enacted by the
Nebraska Legislature. Last verified July 22, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as:covid liability act construction clause Nebraskadoes covid act create new claimsworkers compensation covid liability actsovereign immunity covid act Nebraska