Kuciemba v. Victory Woodworks, Inc. (2023)
Answering a question certified by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the California Supreme Court held that an employer does not owe a duty of care to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to an employee’s household members. Although the Court agreed it is foreseeable that nonemployees could fall ill with COVID-19 as a result of an employer’s failure to follow mandated precautions, the Court determined the costs of prevention and liability would be too burdensome to impose on employers liability for “take-home” exposure to COVID. In doing so, the Court contrasted its decision in Kesner v. Superior Court (2016) 1 Cal.5th 1132, which held that commercial users of asbestos owe a duty to prevent secondary asbestos exposure to employees’ household members, because that duty involves a much smaller pool of potential defendants.
