Lawmakers Seek to Overturn BIIA Decision, Define COVID-19 as Occupational Disease

Lawmakers in Washington state would like to overturn a Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals decision denying a COVID-19 claim and amend the definition of “occupational disease” to include the illness. House Bill 1785, by Rep. Liz Berry, D-Seattle, would declare that any infectious disease is a compensable occupational disease if: It is the subject of a public health emergency. It is spread through respiratory droplets or aerosols or through contact with contaminated surfaces. The employee’s infection was proximately caused by work conditions or employment. The measur...