COVID-19 Employment Lawsuits Target Healthcare

As the COVID-19 pandemic subsides in most parts of the nation, healthcare facilities managers and other leaders in their organizations are learning many lessons as a result of the pandemic. Some lessons relate to the impact of the coronavirus on HVAC system operation, while others are arising from the conditions within facilities during the pandemic.

The healthcare industry is the hardest hit by COVID-19 employment litigation, according to JD Supra. As of the beginning of June 2021, more than one in five of every pandemic-related lawsuit filed across the country had been filed against healthcare employers: 540 out of just over 2,400 cases, or 22.5 percent of all claims filed.

Of those hundreds of claims, whistleblower retaliation lawsuits are among the most common type brought against healthcare employers. A series of recent lawsuits reminds healthcare employers, once again, to carefully navigate personnel decisions involving a complaining employee.