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SAN FRANCISCO: A federal judge is weighing what she called a one-of-a-kind lawsuit that would hold an employer liable for a worker’s spouse becoming ill with Covid-19.
Many families have sued businesses, from retailers to meatpacking plants, claiming that unsafe work spaces during the pandemic caused a worker to become ill.
But Corby Kuciemba and her husband Robert Kuciemba go one step further by blaming their employer, Victory Woodworks Inc, for spreading the disease to their home.
“This is the first time someone has claimed that if they have Covid and live with someone who has a job, they can sue the employer for giving them Covid,” said Bill Bogdan, a lawyer for the company.
Federal District Judge Maxine M Chesney’s decision on whether to let the case proceed will serve as a barometer for similar lawsuits across the country.
Chesney pointed out at a hearing last week that she will likely dismiss the case because Corby Kuciemba’s claim is “totally dependent” on her husband getting sick at work.
Because his injury is addressed through workers’ compensation, Robert is prohibited by law from directly suing the company.
It was unclear if Chesney could go further and decide whether an employer’s duty to provide a safe workspace for employees, which includes protecting workers from exposure to contagious diseases, extends to other family members.
The couple allege that Victory Woodworks violated local and federal virus safety guidelines when it moved workers from one site to another in the San Francisco region.
The company’s failure to take basic precautions caused Robert Kuciemba to contract the virus and unknowingly take it home and infect his wife, according to the complaint, which states that both the husband and wife required prolonged stays in the hospital and suffer sequelae.
Mark Venardi, the couple’s attorney, made an analogy to a worker who inadvertently brings home asbestos fibers from his workplace that make his wife sick, a situation in which California law holds the employer responsible.
“There is no substantial difference between a spouse bringing home a virus rather than a fiber,” Venardi said.
Martin Zurada, another attorney for the plaintiffs, said that even if the husband did not become ill with Covid, which makes worker’s compensation irrelevant, the wife still has an “independent” claim after spending weeks on a ventilator.
Attorneys say they can show that the couple took extreme precautions to avoid exposure to Covid. While that is not a problem for the judge now, if the case continues, they will have to prove that Robert contracted the virus at his workplace, a difficult obstacle to all of the Covid lawsuits.
Bogdan said the judge should not “suspend disbelief when the facts are beyond reason.”
The accusations, he said, have to be “tied to this planet.”
