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WI high court affirms worker’s comp exclusive remedy provision in COVID-19 death case

July 2022 employment law letter
Authors: 
Aneet Kaur, Axley Attorneys

Worker’s compensation serves as the “exclusive remedy” for employees claiming benefits arising out of a work injury. Therefore, they are barred from suing their employers under more lucrative “tort” theories for injuries arising out of their employment. But how does the exclusive remedy provision apply when an employee claims his allegedly work-related COVID-19 condition was transmitted to his wife, who subsequently died from the contagion? Can he pursue a wrongful death action against his employer in tort? Or is he barred by the exclusive remedy provision from doing so? What about the spouse’s estate? Can the nonemployee’s estate pursue a tort claim against the employer? Or is the estate also barred by the exclusive remedy provision? A Wisconsin federal district court recently addressed all of these issues.

Facts

Rigoberto Ruiz and the estate of his wife, Martha Amador de Ruiz, filed a wrongful death and survival action in federal court against his employer arising out of her death after she contracted COVID-19. The lawsuit alleged he contracted the illness while working for his employer, ConAgra Foods Packaged Food, LLC, in April 2020. Further, more than 100 workers tested positive for the virus in the same month, resulting in the company temporarily shutting down its plant. The litigants claimed Ruiz transmitted the virus to his wife, which caused her death a few weeks later.

ConAgra Foods asked the court to dismiss all of the claims arguing they were barred by Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation Act’s (WCA) exclusive remedy provision. The court issued a mixed ruling.

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