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ARTICLE · 24 NOVEMBER 2021

Bloomberg Law Features Article By Testa And Rossi On COVID-19 Wrongful Death Claims

Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP
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Wendy Testa (Partner-Philadelphia, PA) collaborated with Andrew Rossi (Associate-Philadelphia, PA) on "Wrongful Death Liability & COVID-19 Claims," published in Bloomberg Law in October 2021.

United StatesLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Wendy Testa
Wendy Testa
Andrew Rossi
Andrew Rossi
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Wendy Testa (Partner-Philadelphia, PA) collaborated with Andrew Rossi (Associate-Philadelphia, PA) on "Wrongful Death Liability & COVID-19 Claims," published in Bloomberg Law in October 2021.

The pandemic presents a unique set of circumstances for courts and potential defendants to consider as actions stemming from COVID-19-related deaths are pursued. Specifically, employers and medical/long-term care facilities have faced, and will likely continue to face, lawsuits brought by individuals, including administrators and executors of decedents' estates, who allege that a family member passed away after contracting COVID-19 at these locations.

As COVID-19 wrongful death actions are initiated, the statutorily required element of causation will be a central point of contention in the disposition of these cases. Failure to establish causation against an employer or a facility by a preponderance of the evidence results in a bar to recovery on wrongful death claims.

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