Teachers Likely Can't Count on Comp if Sickened by COVID This Fall

Friday, July 24, 2020 | 0

Teachers preparing to return to the classroom in the midst of the pandemic probably won't be able to count on workers' compensation benefits if they contract COVID-19, according to the insurer for Virginia schools.

Lee Brannon

A Virginia newspaper reported Thursday that an official with VaCorp, which manages workers' comp for school districts in the state, said proving that the virus was caught through work duties will be difficult.

“The burden of proof to determine that’s where you contracted the disease is going to be tough to do,” Lee Brannon, the senior school specialist for VaCorp, said during a conference call.

“It doesn’t mean you tell an employee not to file a claim,” he said. “You can’t tell them they can’t do that and then go through the processes. But just because they file a claim does not mean that it will be compensable.”

Virginia is not one of the 14 states that have adopted a COVID presumption for essential workers. The state's comp law has an occupational disease provision, but the burden of proof is high, a claimants' attorney said.

“I could argue that there’s a lot of people in a classroom and a lot of people in a school,” attorney Mike Beste said. “I could bring in evidence to show that people had been infected. But again, this is something that’s so highly contagious — it’s ripping through our communities. So, how are you really going to prove it? It’s just such a high burden that I don’t know how a teacher is going to get benefits.”

Kathy Beery, with Virginia Educators United, said the uncertainty is a major frustration for teachers.

“It reinforces the whole idea that teachers are expendable,” she said.