Workplace Injury Claims and COVID-19: Anticipation and Prevention

The COVID-19 pandemic poses unique challenges at the intersection of employment law and tort liability.  As workplaces reopen and employees return to them, many businesses will encounter risks to employee safety and personal injury litigation they couldn’t have imagined just a few months ago.  Every organization, from the big-box store to the boutique, from the factory to the digital startup, must be prepared for claims of COVID-19 transmission to workers, their families, and others on the premises.  These claims will test the boundaries of traditional tort law principles, as the standard of care evolves at an unprecedented pace.  The first cases have already been filed. 

In this webinar, Crowell & Moring attorneys from both our Labor & Employment and Torts practices will discuss the types of workplace exposure and injury claims we anticipate; how tort law is likely to mesh with worker’s compensation, and how plaintiffs will try to avoid the worker’s compensation bar; the patchwork quilt of federal, state and local regulatory guidance; the rapidly evolving standard of care; “take-home” torts, premises liability, and suits against third-party suppliers; and employers’ opportunity to mitigate their risks and fashion the evidence in their defense.