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According to an article posted on February 11th, 2022, by Joanne Deschenaux at SHRM INDIA CORPORATE INFORMATION; the California Appellate Court said that the California Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA) exclusivity rule, does not bar the employee from bringing the wrongful death action against theemployer. The case included a woman employee who had contracted COVID-19 during a work session due to her employers’ disregard for proper safety measures during the pandemic. This had further infected her husband who contracted the disease and then died due to its harmful effects on the body. It is known that the California Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA), states that employee injury due working at a firm, whilst working, can earn the employee the right to recover workers’ compensation benefits.
Whilst the employer argued that the employee’s claims are a subject to workers’ compensation exclusivity, the trial court rejected this argument and the employee sought appellate review. The appellate court supported the trail court’s decision and sided with their statement. This rejected the advancements from the employer to apply the derivative injury doctrine to any injury casually linked to the employee’s injury. But this was proven that according to the WCA, the employee’s workplace infection constitutes as an injury caused at a workplace, due to the negligence of the employer. It is important to note, that the lawsuit was included in the workers’ compensation exclusivity doctrine. Because of this it was hard for the court to decide on a conclusion that included whether the employer owed a duty of care to its worker’s husband or whether the employee could show that either she or her husband contracted COVID-19 because of any action or inaction by the employer.To win the wrongful death lawsuit, it is important that she proves to the court that the employer was negligent.
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