WC Benefits Available For Workers Handling Tainted Mail

Employees who opened anthrax-taintedenvelopesand had to be treated for their exposurewould be coveredunder their employers workers compensation policies, since part oftheir work-related duties involves opening mail, said LorettaWorters, vice president of communications for the InsuranceInformation Institute in New York.

Workers comp, which varies from state to state, provides for thecost of medical care and rehabilitation for injured employees. Italso provides for lost wages and death benefits for the dependentsof persons killed in work-related accidents.

Federal employees are covered by the Federal EmployeesCompensation Act. Employees of the District of Columbia are coveredby the District of Columbia Workers Compensation Act.

An employee contracting anthrax would be covered under workerscomp, though “there still is a question as to whether their healthinsurance would kick in,” Ms. Worters said.

There will be many insurance issues related to anthrax, shesaid. Business interruption is a factor because some organizationsare being forced to shut down. There also will be liability issues,particularly with post office workers, Ms. Worters added.

“Theyre saying they should have let them know and safeguardedthem in some way,” she said. “So you may see that type ofnegligence commentary.”

Whether post office employees can sue remains to be seen, butemployees in the private sector “will be saying the same things,”she said.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property &Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, November 5, 2001.Copyright 2001 by The National Underwriter Company in the serialpublication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as anindependent work may be held by the author.

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