ACOVID-19: Volunteers place American flags representing some of the 200,000 lives lost in the United States
U.S. businesses with COVID-19 outbreaks face an emerging legal threat over allegations that workers have brought the coronavirus home and infected relatives, which a risk analysis firm says could cost employers billions of dollars.
Illinois’s daughter Esperanza Ugalde filed in August what lawyers see as the first ‘take-out’ wrongful death lawsuit, alleging her mother died of COVID-19 her father contracted at the factory Aurora Packing Co.
The cases borrow material from “on the go” asbestos litigation and avoid caps on liability for work-related accidents, exposing the business to costly pain and damage, even if the plaintiff has never set foot in its premises.
“Businesses should be very concerned about these cases,” said labor and employment lawyer Tom Gies of Crowell & Moring, who advocates for employers.
The lawsuit against Aurora alleges Ricardo Ugalde worked “shoulder to shoulder” on the company’s production line in April, when Aurora learned she had a coronavirus outbreak at her facilities and failed to notify them. employees or adopted infection prevention measures.
Aurora did not respond to a request for comment.
According to Praedicat, between 7% and 9% of the estimated 200,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States so far have come from home infections and lawsuits could cost companies up to $ 21 billion if the number of deaths Americans reached 300,000, according to Praedicat, a firm that assesses risks for insurers.
Rob Reville, chief executive of Praedicat, warns this is the worst-case scenario and said cases could cost a lot less, depending on how judges view prosecutions.
The US workers’ compensation system generally makes it difficult for workers to sue for COVID-19. The system limits corporate liability and prohibits costly lawsuits in exchange for prompt payments to employees, who do not need to prove fault.
But Esperanza Ugalde was not an Aurora employee, so her family can sue the company. Depending on the circumstances, a successful wrongful death case can amount to $ 1 million in damages.
Takeaways have been around for decades in asbestos litigation, and courts have been divided over whether a business has an obligation to members of the public who have never been to their premises.
In 2013, a California jury awarded Rose-Marie Griggs $ 27.3 million in compensatory and punitive damages after contracting mesothelioma which her lawyers said was caused by asbestos fibers brought home in the 1950s on the work clothes of her then-husband, who installed insulation for a subsidiary of Owens-Illinios Inc.
The company appealed and the two sides reached a private settlement before the appeal was heard.
Challenging the “ causal chain ”
Lawyers for the plaintiffs and the companies said successful cases require a strong “causal chain” connecting the sick family member to the worker, then to the company and the company’s alleged failure to adopt safety measures.
Miriam Alvarez Reynoso sued Byrne & Schaefer Inc, an electrical component maker in Lockport, Illinois, alleging that the company’s negligence resulted in her contracting COVID-19 and sustaining “serious multi-organ injuries.”
Reynoso’s lawsuit says she was infected while caring for her husband Servando Reynoso, a company parts assembler, who returned home sick from work on April 8. It lists 18 categories of deficiencies alleged by Byrne & Schaefer, including not cleaning work areas and ignoring employees who have reported having symptoms of COVID-19.
Company owner Tim Byrne said his five employees regularly wore face masks before the pandemic to protect themselves from dust and regularly used gloves.
“He was sick before everyone else,” Byrne said. “It’s hard to prove after the fact.”
Lawyers said employers would likely be reluctant to settle cases for large sums until the claims are reviewed by the court system.
Peter Wozniak, a Barnes & Thornburg lawyer who represents the employers, said the cases would test jurors’ attitudes towards the behavior of plaintiffs, who must show they have protected themselves from other sources of infection .
“Are you still wearing a mask?” Do you stay six feet? Do you wash your hands, ”he said. “It will be interesting and unpredictable when it comes to people’s attitudes towards individual responsibility.”
The best protection for business owners will be to adopt and document measures to protect workers.
“If they had acted reasonably and if Aurora had these things in place before Esperanza died, I don’t know if I would have taken the case,” said Bridget Duignan, who represents Ugalde’s daughter.
“But they didn’t do anything.”
