Widow of Man Who Died of COVID Contracted at Work Can Sue His Employer

Takeaway: This decision underscores the legal responsibility of employers to inform employees of known health risks and maintain adequate safety measures in the workplace.

The widow of an employee who died of COVID-19 complications after contracting the disease at work can go forward with her civil lawsuit against her late husband’s employer, a California appeals court ruled. The widow was not limited to workers’ compensation remedies under the fraudulent concealment exception to the workers’ compensation exclusivity rule, the court said.

The employee worked for the employer as a foreman and bus driver. The employer provided housing for him and other company workers at a hotel. According to the plaintiff’s complaint, some employees were placed in close living quarters that precluded social distancing. The employer was aware that such placement facilitated the transmission of COVID-19, the plaintiff alleged.

She further alleged that the employer became aware of a COVID-19 outbreak at the hotel well before the employee’s viral exposure, although the outbreak was unknown to the employee. The employer failed to report the outbreak to the health department, notify its employees, or implement adequate safety protocols or measures to prevent or curb the outbreak.

The employee began feeling ill on or about June 26, 2020, and his symptoms were those associated with a COVID-19 infection. The employee immediately reported feeling unwell to his supervisors.

The plaintiff alleged that by virtue of its superior knowledge regarding the outbreak, the employer knew, even before her husband, that he had contracted the coronavirus. She further alleged that her husband was unaware that he had contracted COVID-19. However, once he notified the employer of his symptoms, the employer had actual knowledge of the employee’s illness. The employer nonetheless failed to inform the employee of the outbreak or that his symptoms were those of COVID-19.

The employee tested positive for COVID-19 on July 2, 2020, a week after he had reported his symptoms to the employer. On that date, he was moved to a different hotel. He waited for medication to arrive, but none did. On July 7, 2020, he died of COVID-19 complications.

The plaintiff alleged that because of the outbreak, her husband was exposed to COVID-19 and became ill. The employer’s deliberate concealment of the outbreak and the nature of her husband’s illness resulted in the aggravation of his illness, which led to his death.

The trial court dismissed the widow’s civil lawsuit before trial, ruling that she was limited to workers’ compensation remedies, and she appealed.

Fraudulent Concealment Exception to Workers’ Comp Exclusivity

The appeals court first noted that, as a general rule, an employee injured in the course of employment is limited to the remedies available under the Workers’ Compensation Act. An exception exists where the employee’s injury is aggravated by the employer’s fraudulent concealment of the existence of the injury and its connection with the employment.

The fraudulent concealment exception has three prongs, the court explained:

• The employer knew that the plaintiff had suffered a work-related injury.
• The employer concealed that knowledge from the plaintiff.
• The injury was aggravated as a result of such concealment.

In this case, the court said, the plaintiff’s complaint informed the employer of the lawsuit’s basis—that the employer knew that the employee had contracted COVID-19 from his employment and concealed that knowledge from him, thereby aggravating his illness.

As to the knowledge prong, the plaintiff alleged that her husband contracted COVID-19 because of the outbreak at the hotel where he was staying. The complaint alleged that the employer knew, even before the employee, that the employee had contracted COVID-19 by virtue of the employer’s awareness of the outbreak. These allegations indicate that the employer knew that the employee had suffered a work-related injury, the court said.

The complaint’s allegations also satisfy the second prong of concealment, the court said. The plaintiff alleged that the employer failed to report the COVID-19 outbreak to the health department, notify its employees, or implement measures to prevent or curb the outbreak. The failure to notify the employee of the outbreak and tell him his reported symptoms were those of COVID-19 concealed the nature of his illness. An employer who knows that an employee has contracted a disease in the course of their employment has a duty to advise the employee of that fact, the court noted.

Finally, the court said, the complaint sufficiently pleaded the final prong of aggravation. The complaint alleged that a week elapsed between the decedent reporting his symptoms to the employer and a positive COVID-19 test. He died five days after that positive test. The complaint alleged that the employer’s deliberate concealment of the outbreak and the nature of the employee’s illness resulted in the aggravation of his illness to the point that he was unable to recover and succumbed to the disease.

The appeals court reversed the trial court’s ruling and held that that the plaintiff could go forward with her civil suit.

Chavez v. Alco Harvesting LLC, Calif. Ct. App., No. B329282 (June 17, 2024).          

Joanne Deschenaux, J.D., is a freelance writer in Annapolis, Md.