Friday, May 21, 2021 | 0
A worker at a meat packaging facility in Texas receives workers’ compensation for COVID-19 after the employer failed to appeal an order finding that he was entitled to compensation, according to a report in Amarillo Globe-News.
According to the report, Jose Tovar signed COVID-19 in April 2020 while working at a JBS USA Inc. meat packing facility in Cactus. American Zurich Insurance Co. contested Tovar’s claim for lost wages due to the three weeks of work he had missed.
An administrative judge in April ordered the carrier to pay benefits to Tovar. JBS did not appeal until May 18 and made the decision final.
An epidemiologist testified that the overcrowded conditions at the plant, where nearly a third of workers were infected with COVID-19 by June 2020, made Tovar likely to get sick on the job.
The administrative judge reportedly found the epidemiologist’s testimony convincing when he concluded that Tovar “could reasonably only have been infected at work”.
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