Here in Oregon, the legislature has not yet had a special session to deal with Covid-19 issues. One is coming up on June 24th, but I am told it will not be dealing with workplace issues. That is more likely to happen sometime in late July.
The presumption is very important to make sure that people who are forced to work and expose themselves to danger are going to be protected. I have a link here to a case in Ohio. A prison guard was exposed to Covid-19 at work, came down with the illness, and ultimately his worker’s compensation claim was denied.
This is simply an example of employers treating their employees not as people but as chattel. In other words, they treat their employees as objects rather than people.
It is crucial to prevent employers from shirking responsibility for problems that they caused. I hope that the Oregon legislature is up to the task.
