Background
Christopher Thomas, a line foreman for the Russellville Electric Plant Board, became seriously ill with COVID-19 in July 2021 after working near crew members who later tested positive. He developed pneumonia, spent approximately 78 days on a ventilator, and continued to experience respiratory and neurocognitive impairments. Thomas sought workers’ compensation benefits, alleging that he contracted COVID-19 through workplace exposure.
An administrative law judge found Thomas permanently and totally disabled and awarded disability and medical benefits. The Workers’ Compensation Board vacated the award and remanded, concluding that the ALJ had not properly analyzed whether Thomas contracted the virus at work and whether his employment increased his risk. The Court of Appeals agreed that a remand was required because two material factual findings lacked evidentiary support, but held that the ALJ had applied the correct preexisting legal standard and had reasonably interpreted the university evaluator’s causation opinion.
The Court’s Holding
The Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed. It held that the ALJ had considered the statutory requirements that Thomas contract COVID-19 in the course of employment and face an increased risk because of the nature of his employment. On remand, however, the ALJ must apply the three-part test subsequently clarified in Estate of Perkins: the claimant must prove work-related contraction, an increased risk attributable to the nature or conditions of employment, and an injury extending beyond the normally anticipated effects of the communicable disease.
The Court also held that substantial evidence did not support the ALJ’s findings that Thomas was required to ride with coworkers or that he rode with a symptomatic coworker. Thomas had his own vehicle, possessed discretion to travel alone, and the record indicated that the coworker stayed home once symptoms arose. Because those findings were critical to the award, a new compensability assessment was necessary. The Court nevertheless upheld the ALJ’s reading of Dr. Bob Moldoveanu’s report as supporting work-related causation.
Key Takeaways
- A communicable-disease claimant must prove work-related contraction, employment-related increased risk, and effects exceeding those normally anticipated from the disease.
- An ALJ’s factual findings receive deference only when supported by substantial evidence; unsupported findings that materially drive an award require reconsideration.
- Dr. Moldoveanu’s report supplied substantial evidence for the limited finding that Thomas’s COVID-19 condition was causally related to his work environment.
Why It Matters
The decision clarifies how Kentucky’s three-part compensability test for communicable diseases applies to COVID-19 injury claims. Evidence of workplace contact alone does not establish compensability; the claimant must connect the infection to work, show an employment-related risk greater than that faced by the general public, and establish sufficiently serious effects.
The opinion is designated “Not to Be Published” and is not binding precedent in other Kentucky cases, although Kentucky’s appellate rules permit consideration of qualifying unpublished opinions when no published opinion adequately addresses the disputed point.