Earlier today, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order extending workers’ compensation insurance coverage to essential workers who test positive for coronavirus or are diagnosed with COVID-19 by a physician. The order establishes a rebuttable presumption that any essential worker contracted the virus on the job and is, therefore, eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. This presumption effectively places the burden of proof on companies or insurers to prove that the essential worker did not get sick at work in order to permissibly deny coverage. The order applies retroactively, applying benefits to essential employees who have been infected anytime since March 19^th, and will extend for 60 days from today’s issuance of the order to July 5, 2020. 

This blog is presented under protest by the law firm of Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP. It is essentially the random thoughts and opinions of someone who lives in the trenches of the war that often is employment law–he/she may well be a little shell-shocked. So if you are thinking “woohoo, I just landed some free legal advice that will fix all my problems!”, think again. This is commentary, people, a sketchy overview of some current legal issue with a dose of humor, but commentary nonetheless; as if Dennis Miller were a lawyer…and still mildly amusing. No legal advice here; you would have to pay real US currency for that (unless you are my mom, and even then there are limits). But feel free to contact us with your questions and comments—who knows, we might even answer you. And if you want to spread this stuff around, feel free to do so, but please keep it in its present form (‘cause you can’t mess with this kind of poetry). Big news: Copyright 2020. All rights reserved; yep, all of them.