If you have a loved one who died as a result of Covid-19, you may be wondering if you can file a wrongful death case for negligent actions that led to the transmission of the virus. The answer to that question is yes, and there are many types of scenarios where negligence could be to blame for Covid-19 transmission. Here are a few examples, but it is always better to contact Cherepinskiy Law Firm or another skilled lawyer to determine whether or not you have a solid case:
1. Nursing homes are required to take steps to protect residents
Covid-19 is most dangerous for people who are elderly and have serious pre-existing health problems. Individuals in this demographic suffer from extremely high infection mortality rates from this virus. Unfortunately, most nursing home residents are elderly individuals with serious health problems.
As a result of the vulnerability of residents, nursing home staff must take very careful precautions to prevent the spread of the virus. Here are a few examples of actions that could be considered negligent during a Covid-19 outbreak in a nursing home:
– failure to quarantine infected residents
– incidents of a sick or asymptomatically infected employee coming to work
– failure to wear masks consistently in public areas
– failure to adequately disinfect surfaces – failure to practice social distancing
2. Employers who did not follow protocol
Due to the fact that there is a mask requirement in California, it is considered negligent if an employer does not take reasonable steps to ensure that employees wear masks. It also would be considered negligent if the business owner does not wear a mask, contracts the virus, and infects his or her employees. If a business remains open despite not being legally allowed to, this would also be considered an example of negligence.
If you do not die of Covid-19, will you be able to file a lawsuit?
You can file a lawsuit under any circumstances. However, whether or not you’re likely to win will depend on the circumstances of the case. Therefore, if you were infected with Covid-19 as a result of negligence, you will need to be able to prove significant and tangible damages as a result of the infection.
For instance, if you were hospitalized or suffered a permanent disability, this would be considered tangible and significant damages. However, if you only suffered mild symptoms, the case wouldn’t be likely to succeed.
