An employee injured at work generally is limited to workers compensation benefits, which the worker is entitled to receive whether the employer was negligent or not. If an employee can prove he or she contracted COVID-19 at work, which California law makes easier if there is an outbreak in the workplace, the employee is eligible for (and limited to) workers compensation benefits.
But what if the employee contracted COVID-19 at work due to the employer’s inadequate safety measures, then transmitted the coronavirus to a spouse at home, and the spouse soon thereafter died from COVID-19?
Late last month, the California Court of Appeal ruled that the employee and her daughters were not limited to workers compensation benefits if they could prove those facts, even though their loss would not have occurred without the employee-wife’s work-related COVID-19 infection.
Background
Matilde Ek allegedly contracted COVID-19 in March of 2020 while working on the packing line of See’s Candies. She recovered from home, where she lived with her family. Her husband allegedly contracted COVID-19 from Mrs. Ek and died from the disease the following month.
Mrs. Ek and her daughters sued See’s Candies. They alleged that See’s Candies failed to protect Mrs. Ek and her co-workers from the known risks of the coronavirus by failing to implement reasonable safety measures, including social distancing in the packing lines, restrooms and break rooms. The Eks sought damages from Mr. Ek’s death,...
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