In order for a Virginia Beach City worker to qualify for workers’ compensation based on a disease or illness like Ebola, he or she must have contracted the disease as a result of performing his or her job. The disease or illness must also have arisen as a result of the individual’s “peculiar” work conditions.
In other words, the disease or illness must have occurred in the course and scope of the workers’ employment and arisen out of that employment. This may sound too technical to understand, but there is a common test to determine if a particular employee’s situation satisfies these two conditions. Basically, was the employer benefiting from the employee’s actions when he or she suffered exposure to the disease or illness? In the case of a healthcare worker who is exposed to an Ebola-infected patient, then the answer is likely to be, “yes.” Still, it seems that those employed in the healthcare field tending to Ebola patients may be the ones who have the highest of success when compared to an airport worker or other type of worker.
In order to know if a particular instance of Ebola contamination will qualify for workers’ compensation benefits in Virginia Beach City, one must be intimately familiar with the nuances of Virginia workers’ compensation law. Because of the complexity involved, many workers’ compensation cases that involve occupational diseases and illnesses result in litigation. That is not because they are more likely to fail; it just means that the legal issues at stake require a higher level of expertise to decide.
Source: Insurance Journal, “Is Ebola Compensable Under Workers’ Compensation?” Christopher J. Boggs, Oct. 10, 2014