Description
HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/CALIFORNIA-WORKERS:Employer must face worker’s lawsuit over husband’s COVID death -California court
Summary
- The California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, rejected South San Francisco-based See’s Candies’ argument that the employee, Matilde Ek, must file for workers’ compensation rather than seek damages in court because her husband’s death was “derivative” of her own workplace injury.
- Ek and her three daughters sued See’s last year, saying she contracted COVID-19 because the company failed to ensure safety in the workplace.
- See’s responded that Arturo Ek’s death was “derivative” of Ek’s alleged workplace injury.
- That meant it was covered by workers’ compensation, and Ek could not sue over it in court, the company said.
- It cited a decision by a federal appeals court allowing a similar case over a hepatitis infection.