As COVID-19 deaths continue, the RMB Compensation Division examines a case where the estate of a man who died from COVID-19 has been awarded workers’ compensation.
The NSW Personal Injury Commission in August 2021 determined that a worker who died after contracting COVID-19 during the course of his employment was entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.
The worker was a director of an Australian dental technology company who contracted COVID when he travelled to the United States in July 2020 to establish a US facility.
He contracted the virus having attended several networking functions, was admitted to hospital in late July and ultimately died in the US in November 2020.
His estate brought a workers’ compensation claim for $834,000 in death benefits and $11 million in medical expenses. The claim was denied by iCare, which claimed the worker had not suffered an 'injury' during the course of employment.
Specifically, iCare argued that at the time he became ill the worker was not working for the Australian company for which he was employed as a director, but rather for a related US firm for which he was the Managing Director and President. Further, it was submitted that it could not be demonstrated that the worker had contracted COVID-19 during the course of his employment as it was possible that he contracted the virus during the course of social interactions.
Member Harris of the Personal Injury Commission rejected iCare's argument and found that the estate of the deceased worker was entitled to compensation for his death as he was found to have contracted COVID-19 in the course of his employment.
The Commission found there was a clear intention of the worker's Australian employer that he continue to be employed while he travelled to the US. His onset of symptoms (and other factors) made it likely that he contracted COVID-19 between boarding his flight in Sydney and arriving at his hotel in New York – work-related travel and thus in the course of his employment.
The Commission found that the estate of the worker was entitled to a lump sum death benefit of $834,200. Further, the estate was entitled to body transport expenses and to weekly compensation from the date he was first diagnosed with COVID-19 to his death, as well as reasonable medical expenses. The US hospital bill was in excess of $11 million – but the question of whether the full cost will be recoverable is yet to decided by the Commission.
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