Sickened Deputy Thinks COVID Presumption Bill Should Be Retroactive

Monday, February 8, 2021 | 0

The Virginia Senate has endorsed a COVID-19 presumption measure, but one first responder said it doesn't go far enough and is not retroactive for workers already sickened by the virus.

“It makes me feel like they don’t care,” Pittsylvania County sheriff's Deputy Michelle Gunter told a Virginia television station.

She believes she was exposed to the coronavirus when she came into contact with a sick inmate. Her workers' compensation claim was denied and she now faces more than $1 million in medical bills.

“I’m still on oxygen. I’m still using a walker. I’m wearing pull-ups,” Gunter said. “It’s sad to say at 52 years old. But I laugh to keep from crying.”

The Senate on Thursday voted 39-0 in favor of SB 1375, which would create a presumption that the disease is work-related for firefighters, law officers and correctional officers. But the measure would apply only to those diagnosed on or after July 1 of this year.

A co-sponsor of the bill, Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax, said the chamber limited the scope of the presumption to ease the burden on local governments that employ most first responders.

A similar bill that passed the House, HB 2207, would be retroactive to March 12, 2020. But Saslaw said so many resulting claims would be too costly.

“That won’t make it through the Senate,” Saslaw said in an interview after the vote. “The money is simply not there in our budget.”

A third presumption bill, HB 1985, also passed the House this week. It would be retroactive to March but would cover only health care workers. That bill has been assigned to the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee.