In the recent decision, Thiele v. Select Medical Corp., the Nebraska Supreme Court overturned the denial of a woman's workers' compensation claim for a COVID-19 infection.
Christine Thiele contracted COVID-19 in April 2020 while working as a nurse liaison at a critical care recovery hospital in Omaha. Thiele filed a Petition in the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court alleging that COVID-19 is an occupational disease caused by her work and that she is entitled to benefits as a result of her exposure.
"Occupational disease" is defined in Section 48-151(3) as "disease which is due to causes and conditions which are characteristic of and peculiar to a particular trade, occupation, process, or employment, and excludes all ordinary diseases of life to which the general public is exposed."
Initially, the Nebraska Workers Compensation Board denied her claim, ruling that COVID-19 was not to be considered an occupational disease. However, Thiel appealed, and the Nebraska Supreme Court reversed the dismissal of her case, finding that COVID-19 was still rare enough to be considered a particular risk for healthcare workers at the time of symptoms' contraction.
The Court's decision was split 4-3, with three justices endorsing one opinion considered the lead opinion; the result was that the trial judge should not have dismissed Thiel's claim and allowed the case to proceed to trial. Three justices dissented with the reasoning and result of the lead opinion. Ultimately, this decision does not resolve the ongoing debate about whether COVID-19 can be considered an occupational disease under the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act.
The lead opinion introduced a new legal principle. It argued that when determining whether an illness is an 'ordinary disease of life,' the focus should be on the period of exposure prior to contraction or onset of symptoms, rather than the circumstances at the time of the hearing. In Thiel's case, this meant that the trial judge should have considered when she contracted the virus in 2020, a time when healthcare workers faced a heightened risk of exposure, rather than when the Petition was filed in 2022.
On the other hand, the three justices who dissented emphasized that COVID-19 has always spread in the same way; any person-to-person interaction carries the risk of contracting COVID-19 and found that COVID-19 cannot be considered anything other than an ordinary disease of life, regardless of the time period.
Thiel's case, while not providing binding authority or clarity on whether COVID-19 should be considered an occupational disease, does offer a starting point for future cases. The Court's opinion suggests that when determining if an illness, specifically COVID-19, is an ordinary disease of life, one must focus on the period of exposure. This interpretation could potentially influence future workers' compensation claims related to COVID-19.