A veteran Austin firefighter says the city has turned its back on her at the worst possible time, rejecting her workers’ compensation claim after a diagnosis of stage four uterine cancer. The denial, which staff and union leaders say landed in her mailbox in November, leaves her family without a guaranteed income and key medical protections while she keeps working through treatment and gears up to fight the decision. Her case has quickly become a flashpoint for critics of how Texas handles occupational cancer claims for first responders.
According to KXAN, the firefighter, 46-year-old Suzanne La Follette, learned of her diagnosis in May 2025. She has spent 19 years with the Austin Fire Department, including 16 years riding on a fire engine. The station reports that the city, through its third-party administrator, sent a denial letter in November. Had the claim been approved, it would have covered her full salary, thousands of dollars in medical bills, and a line-of-duty death benefit.
How Texas law narrows presumptive coverage
Texas law gives firefighters a presumption that certain cancers are work-related, but that safety net is tightly drawn. The statute lists only a limited group of cancers: stomach, colon, rectum, skin, prostate, testis, and brain cancers, along with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, malignant melanoma, and renal cell carcinoma. Uterine cancer is not on that list.
The scope of the law was narrowed in a 2019 amendment that removed broader language tying coverage to exposure to heat, smoke, or suspected carcinogens, according to the Texas Government Code. That missing language now sits at the heart of the city’s rationale for denying La Follette’s claim.
Researchers track exposures and risks
While La Follette prepares her appeal, researchers are trying to catch up with the risks firefighters face on the job. UTHealth Houston is leading a statewide Texas Firefighter Cancer Study, headed by Dr. Jooyeon Hwang, that aims to measure fireground exposures, track early biological warning signs and push for cancer screening that reflects firefighters’ occupational hazards…