skip to main content

Tentative significant decisions

All dockets are in Adobe Acrobat/PDF format

March 2023

Occupational Disease – COVID-19
Parting company with our judge, the majority of the Board concluded that the worker's spouse did not prove that her husband fatally contracted COVID-19 as a proximate result of the distinctive conditions of his assembly line work at Tyson Foods instead of elsewhere in his everyday life. Consequently, the Board rejected the claim and denied his spouse's application for surviving spousal benefits. Our labor Board member dissented, contending that the preponderance of the direct and circumstantial evidence supports an opposite conclusion.
In re J. Guadalupe Olivera Dec'd, Dckt. No. 21 13955 (March 9, 2023) [dissent]

April 2023

Occupational Disease – COVID-19
While determining that the worker likely contracted COVID as a flight attendant from a specific airline passenger, our judge denied her claim on the basis that she did not establish that her illness arose naturally and proximately due to the distinctive conditions of her job. Parting company with our judge, and distinguishing cases that provide that "communicable diseases are generally a function of everyday life rather than a distinctive condition of employment," the majority of the Board determined that the flight attendant's job-specific conditions were distinctive and "caused her to be in direct contact with the COVID-19 virus in a way that was distinguishable from her exposure to its presence at any other place or time."
In re Shannon M. Bean, Dckt. No. 21 18503 (April 24, 2023) [dissent]

September 2023

Beneficiaries/Substitution of Surviving Spouse
When a surviving spouse seeks to substitute as the appealing party, we required a motion accompanied, at a minimum, by: (a) documentation of the marriage; (b) proof of death; and (c) a declaration or other proof that the surviving spouse retains some legitimate interest in pursuing the appeal. Pursuant to CR 25(a), the Board granted review to solicit a motion for substitution from the worker's widow showing her interest in the appeal and then granted the motion.
In re Stephen G. Foster (Dec'd), Dckt. No. 22 13711 (September 8, 2023)

December 2023

WISHA/Hearing Venue
Unless waived, the proper venue for a WISHA matter is the county in which the alleged violation occurred. Here, the employer had good cause for not appearing for hearing in an improper county.
In re Carolyn J. Daves DBA Loon Lake Partners, Dckt. No. 20 W1281 (December 28, 2023)