Leilani Jordan, who had developmental challenges and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, died in April 2020 of complications from covid-19. She was 27 and working in a Maryland grocery store when she fell ill and days later became one of the first faces of the pandemic’s devastating death toll.
While she continues to grieve her second-oldest child, Shepherd is also on a quest for justice. On Tuesday, she will appear virtually before a Prince George’s Circuit Court judge who is expected to decide whether a lawsuit she and her husband filed last year against Dominion Residence, an assisted-living facility for the developmentally disabled where Jordan lived; the owners of the Giant store where she worked; and a supervisor at the store will move forward.
“There are thousands of stories like Leilani’s, but there are a lot of families that need to be aware that they have rights,” Shepherd said. “They have rights. Sometimes we take it as if we don’t, and there’s nothing we can do. But we have rights.”
Legal experts say Shepherd’s lawsuit is one of a small but likely growing number of cases filed by family members who claim their loved ones contracted the coronavirus and died as a result of an employer’s negligence. Hundreds of workers have filed similar claims blaming their employer after they contracted the virus.
“Leilani was of a vulnerable class, and they were forcing her to actually work without taking care of her and protecting her,” said William C. Johnson III, who is...
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