Stock Market News

Workers can’t sue over ‘take home COVID,’ Calif. top court rules

2023.07.07 12:47


© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: People wear masks as they walk along a side walk after California lifted its regional stay-at-home orders across the state during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in California, U.S., January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Blake

By Daniel Wiessner

(Reuters) – California’s top state court has ruled that employers cannot be held liable when workers contract COVID-19 on the job and spread it to their household members, siding with business groups who warned of a potential flood of litigation.

The seven-member California Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously ruled that allowing so-called “take home COVID” claims could encourage businesses to adopt precautions that slow the delivery of services to the public, or to shut down completely during pandemics.

Corby Kuciemba had filed the lawsuit, saying she became seriously ill when her husband contracted COVID at his job with Victory Woodworks Inc in 2020 and passed it to her.

The court said a ruling for Kuciemba would turn every employer in California into a potential defendant, even when they had taken reasonable steps to prevent the spread of the virus or when it is impossible to prove that employees contracted COVID at work.

“Even limiting a duty of care to employees’ household members, the pool of potential plaintiffs would be enormous, numbering not thousands but millions of Californians,” Justice Carol Corrigan wrote for the court.

Lawyers for Kuciemba and Victory Woodworks did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The court took the case after the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year asked it to decide whether California law recognizes negligence claims against employers when workers spread COVID to household members.

The 9th Circuit is considering Kuciemba’s bid to revive her lawsuit after it was dismissed by a California federal judge. After Thursday’s ruling, the 9th Circuit will most likely uphold that decision.

Business groups had argued that allowing take home COVID claims could prompt lawsuits by an infected employee’s family and friends, and anyone infected by that circle of people, creating a never-ending chain of liability.

Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 95,830.68 2.57%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,336.49 3.57%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 0.997032 0.23%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 2.17 4.69%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 691.07 1.46%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 188.89 4.15%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.314773 4.31%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 0.997712 0.30%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,334.02 3.41%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.867313 4.52%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.251514 1.99%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 37.59 6.74%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 5.73 4.31%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 22.76 6.92%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 4,080.33 0.87%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000022 5.43%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 95,498.59 2.59%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 4.25 5.71%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.290302 6.63%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.35705 6.32%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 6.97 6.13%
bitget-token
Bitget Token (BGB) $ 7.24 26.73%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,336.87 3.50%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 438.79 4.62%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 9.13 4.49%
hyperliquid
Hyperliquid (HYPE) $ 24.91 8.64%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 102.74 4.86%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 12.90 6.67%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000017 6.76%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,522.67 3.45%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 5.07 6.87%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 0.997308 0.28%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 0.997029 0.66%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 336.88 8.27%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 8.97 6.41%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 10.36 7.43%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.150679 4.29%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.481424 5.97%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 1.19 3.77%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 25.89 4.75%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.047324 7.50%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 7.19 4.08%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.58 1.31%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 190.43 2.13%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 473.98 5.53%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 0.997855 0.23%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.63 3.47%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.27 5.31%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.749369 5.84%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.00 5.18%