An insurer erred in denying workers’ compensation benefits to a utility worker who contracted COVID-19 while on the job, a job the state had deemed as “essential” during the pandemic.
The insurer had denied the claim on the basis that the risk of contracting COVID-19 was not inherent in the nature of Jeff Stacy’s employment as a lineman for the electric utility Unitil Corp.
But the insurer failed to reasonably consider how the pandemic changed the working conditions for the lineman. These conditions included the fact that the s