This has been one of the craziest news weeks ever. Lost in the shuffle was a report that about 20,000 Amazon workers have been diagnosed with Covid. That is of course a very large number and includes workers at Whole Foods as well as warehouses.
It’s certainly possible that many of them got Coronavirus from risks in their personal life. That said, if you are an Illinois Amazon worker and got Covid, under Illinois law, it’s assumed that you were exposed at the job.
I say this because a law signed in June ruled that essential workers, which includes grocery store workers and essential business employees, who get Covid are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits unless the employer can show that they did not get Covid at work.
Simpler translation, these workers are doing important jobs and constantly exposed to Covid. Therefore, it’s assumed that if they got it, it’s from work.
This is a huge benefit for these workers as under Illinois work comp law, 100% of their medical care will be paid by their employer. We’ve seen stories of people sick with Covid who have out of pocket bills from $30,000-$100,000 or more depending on the severity of the illness. That should not be a concern if you work for Amazon in Illinois.
In addition, these workers won’t have to feel a financial pressure to rush back to work because they should get TTD benefits which will compensate them for their time off of work. That is in the best interests of everyone as you won’t have sick people exposing other sick people. They can quarantine and not worry about going bankrupt.
Finally of course, when they are all better they will be eligible for a settlement. This is huge as Covid can have life long complications.
It’s important to get this knowledge out their for Amazon employees given the large number that work in Illinois. We have already helped about ten people who work for Amazon and have Covid and have helped many other front line workers with the same issue.
If you would like to talk to an attorney for free to see if you have a case, please call us at 312-346-5578 any time. All calls are free and confidential and we help with cases everywhere in Illinois through our state wide network of like minded attorneys.
