A certified nursing assistant can continue pursuing worker’s compensation for lung injuries she allegedly sustained after contracting COVID-19 while on the job in June 2020. The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals reversed a lower court decision stopping the lawsuit, and remanded the suit for further action.

While not a decision on the ultimate merits of plaintiff Rena Meeks’ case, the ruling does give new life to one out of a wave of COVID-related lawsuits leveled against nursing homes the past several years.

The defendant — Opp Health and Rehabilitation LLC of Opp, AL — argued that Meeks could not prove her injuries were caused on the job or that her risk of contracting COVID at work was any higher than it would be in daily life. These arguments were initially successful in trial court, but the appeals court saw more potential merit to the case. 

Specifically, the unanimous decision from five appellate judges noted that the timing of the CNA’s sickness is relevant to whether her request for workers’ compensation will ultimately be approved or denied.

“We can envision a set of circumstances in which, at the time — early in the COVID-19 pandemic when many schools and businesses were closed and before vaccines were available … Meeks was required to work closely with numerous patients who had COVID-19, exposing her to a risk materially in excess of the danger that most people were ordinarily exposed to at that time,” the justices wrote. 

The judges explained that the trial court is required to view the facts of Meeks’ case in the most favorable light at the current early stage of the litigation. They also cited other cases from around the country in which states, such as New York and Arizona, ruled that certain employees were eligible for workers’ compensation after contracting COVID. 

“We are not prepared to hold that COVID-19 is not compensable under the [Workers’ Compensation Act] as a matter of law,” the judges declared. “Meeks is entitled to pursue her claim that she contracted COVID-19 while working within the line and scope of her employment.”

A representative of Opp Health and Rehabilitation declined McKnight’s request to comment on the case this week.

Nursing homes and other eldercare facilities have faced heightened legal challenges in the wake of the COVID pandemic. Some have won key victories, including in cases that dealt with COVID cases from the earliest days of the pandemic.