The Delaware Supreme Court has ruled that a Perdue Farms employee could not claim that COVID contracted by an employee was a “compensable occupational disease”.
The claimant was unable to demonstrate that the viral infection was acquired within the plant while working. The claim was initially rejected by the state Industrial Accident Board and was then affirmed on appeal by the Delaware Superior Court. The most recent ruling by the Delaware Supreme Court ended the sequence of litigation to the advantage of Perdue Farms.
This ruling establishes case law applicable in the event of future claims relating to COVID or some other infectious disease acquired by contact or inhalation in a plant or community.