Tennessee S.B. 8007, which would have made COVID-19 an occupational illness, failed in Tennessee's Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on Tuesday. The bill, introduced the day prior, would have applied to essential workers' in specific situations, allowing them the presumption that they contracted the virus at work.
According to the bill, a worker who suffered from COVID-19 would have been presumed to have contracted the virus in the course of employment if 10 or more employees at the same location had also contracted COVID-19, or if they are considered to be an essential worker. Several industries are listed as essential including health care, childcare, and grocery and medical retail.
In the bill, the presumption that the employee caught the virus at work could be rebutted if the employer or the employer's insurer demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence that "the employee's contraction of COVID-19 did not arise out of or in the course of the employee's employment."
The bill specified that the presence of COVID-19 had to be demonstrated with a positive lab test, written diagnosis by a licensed physician, nurse practitioner, or physician's assistant. If the employee is deceased, COVID-19 would have had to be listed as the cause of death.
The state House of Representatives is considering a similar bill which was also introduced on Monday, H.B. 8008.