A hospital worker who says she contracted tuberculosis at work but was denied workers compensation benefits should have been permitted to pursue her claim, the Hawaii Intermediate Appeals Court ruled Tuesday.
The court vacated a state Labor and Industrial Relations Appeals Board decision affirming an administrative finding that a claim filed by Teresa Weis was time-barred.
Ms. Weis, employed by Pali Momi Medical Center, claims she was exposed in December 2008 to a patient who was infected with tuberculosis while working at another hospital. She tested positive for latent tuberculosis, which causes no symptoms and doesn’t always lead to developing the disease.
In January 2012, while working at Pali Momi, Ms. Weis learned she tested positive for the disease. Four months later, she attempted to file for workers comp, but the claim was denied. The employer said Ms. Weis would need to know who infected her for the claim to be compensable, the ruling states. She resigned in August 2014.
The Labor and Industrial Relations director upheld the claim denial, as did the review board.
The appellate court said the denial was improper, not because the injury was necessarily compensable, but because the employer didn’t take the proper administrative steps to address the case.
The appeals court, in remanding the case to the review board, said the board must apply the proper standards to determine whether the employer should be prevented from relying on a statute of limitations defense in its decision to deny the claim.