Court Dismisses Family COVID Suit
Ok, dear readers, you still with me? It’s Friday after all!
Remember that Kuciemba case your humble blogger reported on a bit previously? Well, it didn’t work out so well for the plaintiffs.
Mr. and Mrs. Kuciemba both sued Mr. Kuciemba’s private employer on a theory that Mr. Kuciemba was exposed to COVID19 in the course of his employment duties and then brought it home to his wife. Both were hospitalized after testing positive for COVID19.
Previously, the trial judge in the Kuciemba matter dismissed the claim with leave to amend, reasoning that it should be confined to the worker’s compensation system as to Mr. Kuciemba’s claims, declining to apply the reasoning used for asbestos litigation to COVID19.
Well, even after amending the claim, the trial judge found insufficient basis to proceed and dismissed the claim. So, at least for now, employers can breathe a bit easier about the fallout of COVID19 exposure to their employees, to wit, employees’ family members claiming downstream exposure and suing for negligence.
That being said, it was the California Supreme Court that opened up asbestos litigation for family members of employees. We should all agree to keep watch over this for developments up the chain of appeals.
Have a good weekend, dear readers!