Aside from workers compensation cases resulting from mandatory work-from-home policies, now employers have something else to worry about:
In its May 20, 2020 “Back to Normal Barometer” survey, the US Travel Association asked employees about their willingness to sue their employers over COVID-19.
To the question, “If you started back to work and you found out one of your co-workers had COVID-19, then a few days later you came down with the illness yourself, 36% of all respondents said they would be likely to pursue legal action against their employer.
However, if respondents “were confident that their employer had closely followed every protocol to sanitize the premises, maintain social distancing, require face masks, and conduct COVID-19 testing of all employees,” only 26% of respondents said they would sue their employer.
Given the fact that the CDC now recommends COVID-19 Hazard Assessments, companies should rethink their policies, plans, and procedures.