Court rules worker’s lawsuit against company over husband’s COVID-19 death can proceed

A court ruled on Tuesday that a candy company in California must face a lawsuit after an employee said she contracted COVID-19 at work and infected her husband, which resulted in his death. 

The state appeals court ruling against San Francisco-based See’s Candies appears to mark the first time a lawsuit will be allowed to potentially hold a company responsible for the COVID-19-related death of an employee’s family member, Reuters reported. 

The company had claimed that Matilde Ek must seek workers’ compensation because her husband’s death was the result of her personal workplace injury, arguing she could not sue over it. 

However, the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, rejected that argument, saying that COVID-19 caused Ek’s husband’s death and she was merely a “conduit.” As a result, Ek was permitted to seek damages in court.

Ek and her three daughters filed their lawsuit against the company last year.

The Hill has reached out to See’s Candies, which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, for comment. 

The state of California has seen over 76,000 COVID-19 related deaths over the course of the pandemic. As of Dec. 21, the state’s daily average was 63 deaths, down 12 percent in the past two weeks, according to The New York Times.