The Idaho Supreme Court on Friday upheld the denial of a widow’s workers compensation claim for her husband’s death from complications related to COVID-19.
William Weeks was working for Oneida County’s Road and Bridge Department when in September 2021 the county had high transmission rates for COVID-19 and recommended some of its employees take precautions including social distancing and not holding in-person meetings. However, critical workers including those in the Road and Bridge Department had to work their normal schedules, according to Weeks v. Oneida County.
The department continued to hold morning meetings in an office break room. Although masks, gloves and hand sanitizer were provided, workers generally did not wear masks. On Sept. 17, 2021, a Friday when employees in the Road and Bridge Department were off duty, one of Mr. Weeks’ co-workers began feeling ill.
Due to the shortage of tests available at the time, the co-worker did not get tested for COVID-19, but he assumed he had the virus and did not return to work until Sept. 28, when all his symptoms were gone. No morning meeting was held that day.
On Sept. 29, 2021, Mr. Weeks began to feel ill while traveling with two other employees in a single vehicle. Days later, Mr. Weeks tested positive for COVID-19. His wife fell ill and tested positive three days later. One of the employees who had traveled with Weeks to Preston also tested positive.
Mr. Weeks never returned to work and was hospitalized and died of complications related to COVID-19 on Oct. 9, 2021. His widow filed a workers compensation claim, alleging Mr. Weeks had contracted COVID-19 from the daily morning meetings at work. The Industrial Commission denied her claim.
The Idaho Supreme Court said the commission did not err in finding the widow failed to prove her husband contracted COVID-19 at work.
The widow contended the commission failed to apply a preponderance of the evidence standard because it concluded there were “simply too many unknowns” and that it was not possible to know exactly where Mr. Weeks was infected. The high court said when read in context of the decision the commission’s statement was simply “a legal conclusion that Mrs. Weeks could not meet her burden in this case with the evidence she presented.”
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