The California Supreme Court in Kuciemba v. Victory Woodworks, Inc was asked to rule on two questions by the 9th Circuit:

  1. If an employee contracts COVID-19 at the workplace and brings the virus home to a spouse, causing injury, does the California Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA) bar the spouse’s negligence claim against the employer?

With the significant increase in COVID-19 cases, the state of California has started implementing new measures to try to combat the rise.  On July 26, 2021, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued an order requiring covered healthcare facilities to verify the vaccination status of all workers and put mandatory testing requirements in place

As COVID-19-related litigation increases, courts are being called upon to interpret the scope of employers’ duties to protect their employees with relation to the virus.  Last week, a California federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by a spouse attempting to hold her husband’s employer liable for her COVID-19 infection.  The judge held that California’s worker’s