The COVID-19 pandemic has spawned a wave of
employment litigation directly and indirectly based on
COVID-19-related health risks and employers' response to the
crisis. Seyfarth has been tracking lawsuits filed in state
and federal courts across the country, and will be reporting on the
emerging trends within this wave of COVID-19 employment litigation
and offering practical strategies for avoiding and responding to
these lawsuits. This legal update provides our initial
impressions from our data collection and
analysis.
1. Types of Lawsuits
In both state and federal courts, employees have advanced a wide
variety of claims in response to COVID-19's effect on their
workplaces. Given the unprecedented nature and breadth of the
pandemic and corresponding economic repercussions, the claims cover
a rather broad range of topics, but those advanced so far tend to
fall into one or more of several categories:
