Greetings,

The CFO of Florida yesterday put out the attached directive extending WC coverage to “Frontline State Employees” who have tested positive for COVID-19 as an occupational disease.  The Directive states in essence it is a presumption of compensability unless the State of Florida can show by preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not) the employee contracted it outside the scope of their employment for the State.

This only applies to employees working for the State of Florida in the following categories:

1. First responders (law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics, EMT’s)
2. Correction officers
3. State employees working in the healthcare field
4. Child safety inspectors who do welfare checks
5. FL National Guard called into service because of COVID-19

As of now, this only applies to State employees, but thought it was worth sharing as a possible harbinger of things to come.  We do have a team of attorneys in the firm who specialize in First Responder and Presumption claims, and if you have any questions I can certainly connect you.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Morgan  Indek | Managing Partner