Law Office of Alan Tysinger

Deadline Approaching for First Responders to Request Re-Processing of COVID-19 Work Injury Claims

The Texas Department of Insurance division of workers compensation recently informed first responders that the deadline is approaching for COVID-19 Worker’s Compensation claims to be re-processed. Under senate bill 22 passed in 2021 during the 87th legislature regular session, the Texas government code section 607.0545 was amended to create a... Read more →

Does a COVID-19 diagnosis count as a workers comp injury?

Does a COVID-19 diagnosis count as a workers comp injury? How about forced quarantine without positive test but forced to take time off....or positive test but asymptomatic and forced quarantine? With school starting back up, many school district employees are asking these questions. I am handling several such cases right... Read more →

COVID-19 Litigation and Summer Camps

What about COVID-19 cases arising out of summer camps, including church camps? For the clients, the major factor is damages. Pain and suffering is usually a minor component in injury cases. More critical are objective economic damages-- lost wages, past medical bills, future medical bills, loss of earning capacity. Most... Read more →

COVID-19 and Workers' Compensation: A "Miniscule" Chance?

Recently leaders in Arkansas were asked about workers compensation as it relates to coronavirus Worker’s Compensation claims. The governor of Arkansas indicated in a straightforward manner that he had clarified with the director of the workers compensation office in the state that an employee who catches COVID-19 at the workplace... Read more →

COVID-19 and the Workplace: Workers' Compensation to the Rescue?

The title containing this catchy phrase, Worker’s Compensation to the rescue? Is what headlines a recent article in Forbes magazine. Many employers have been justifiably concerned about re-opening their businesses in light of potential liability for employees who may sustain COVID-19 on the job. The article notes that workers compensation... Read more →

Presumption of COVID-19 as Occupational Disease in Texas and Various State Jurisdictions

A recent article discusses the issue of causation in Worker’s Compensation cases with particular reference to COVID-19. The article states the obvious that you don’t need to be an epidemiologist or infectious disease specialist to see the challenge of proving whether a disease occurred on the job or not. Community... Read more →

Asymptomatic spread and COVID-19 occupational disease cases-- what does it mean?

Asymptomatic spread and COVID-19 occupational disease cases-- what does it mean? The WHO caused a stir a few days ago when it released now highly criticized comments that asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 infections is rare. The WHO has since updated their comments to reflect a more nuanced view of the... Read more →

Federal Law to Limit Employer Liability for COVID-19?

Congress is currently considering legislation on a federal level that would limit employer liability for COVID-19 occupational disease claims. This would preempt state level legislation, including workers' compensation and civil laws, regarding such injury claims. This legislation has not yet passed to become law, and it seems unlikely that this... Read more →

COVID-19 and Causation in a Pandemic

In the COVID-19 occupational disease cases, everyone wants to go straight to individual causation. In other words, how can I prove that this employee can only have gotten this disease at work. That is not how these cases are going to go. There will be many widely scattered cases where... Read more →

Tyson Chicken COVID-19 Wrongful Death Suit Filed in Texas

The family of a worker at a Tyson chicken facility in Texas has filed suit following her wrongful death due to COVID-19. How hard a case will this be? Depends how you frame the causation question. If it is "How can we know whether she got COVID-19 at work?" it... Read more →