LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A district judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the city of Lincoln against Lancaster County seeking to cover medical expenses stemming from a friendly punch between officers nearly three years ago.

The order said that a sheriff’s deputy hit a Lincoln police officer working light duty on the left shoulder as he greeted her. The deputy didn’t know she had recently had rotator cuff surgery.

Nebraska’s Workers Compensation Court then ruled the city owed the officer more than $63,000 for medical expenses and restitution.

The city sued the county in May 2015, saying the deputy was negligent and failed to recognize that physical contact might hurt the officer.

Lancaster County District Judge Jodi Nelson ruled Tuesday the deputy’s punch constituted battery not negligence under state tort law.