SFM Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Kathy Bray is among this year’s recipients of the Minnesota Lawyer In-House Counsel Awards . A celebration breakfast and award ceremony were held on April 21, 2022, at Leopold’s Mississippi Gardens in Brooklyn Park, MN.
Minnesota Lawyer named 20 honorees this year, all of whom are Minnesota-based lawyers who work in-house in both the public and private sectors.
Award categories include:
Public Company
Private Company with annual revenues up to $500 million
Private Company with annual revenues over $500 million
Nonprofit or Government Organization
Healthcare Organization
Rising Star
Lifetime Achievement
Minnesota Lawyer describes the award as celebrating in-house counsel for their ability to “navigate complicated contract negotiations, defend their companies in high stakes litigation and defend some of an organization’s most important assets.”
By Cheryl Howland Bowsfield, Senior Defense Counsel with SFM’s in-house law firm
While the federal mandate that large employers must vaccinate employees against COVID-19 was struck down by the United States Supreme Court, employers can still encourage or require employees to vaccinate against COVID-19. This raises the question of compensability for adverse reactions from the COVID-19 vaccine, and related medical treatment and time lost from work. A key factor for workers’ compensation compensability is whether the vaccination was required by the employer.
As with the flu vaccine, the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have both confirmed that employers can mandate that their workers receive the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment. Those employers that choose to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine will need to accommodate waivers or exemptions for employees objecting on health or religious reasons. Other employers may decide to encourage the vaccine, but not mandate it, by offering on-site vaccinations, payment or reimbursement of vaccine costs, monetary incentives, or as a part of an employer’s wellness program to encourage employees to be vaccinated.
A second key factor for compensability is whether the side effects that occurred from undergoing a COVID-19 vaccination rise to the level of an injury or illness, temporary or permanent. To date, the reported COVID-19 vaccine side effects mirror those that have been seen with the flu vaccine. The most common side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine include swelling or pain at the injection site, tiredness, muscle pain, chills, joint pain and fever. These are usually mild in nature and resolve on their own in a few days. Severe allergic reactions to the COVID-19 vaccination requiring treatment have been reported as rare according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
What does all this mean in the context of workers’ compensation? Is an adverse vaccine reaction compensable? The answer is that it depends.
To determine whether an adverse reaction is compensable will require an investigation into the facts of each claim, receipt of medical records and consideration of the following:
Was the vaccine mandated by the employer?
Was undergoing the vaccine a condition of employment?
Was there something specific to the employment and/or job duties that put the employee at an increased risk for exposure to COVID-19?
Does undergoing the vaccine in some way further the business of the employer?
Is the employee working with COVID-19 positive patients?
Is the employee required to work with the public?
Was the vaccine administered at work while the employee was working and being paid?
Did the employee, for personal reasons outside of their employment, undergo the vaccine?
In states such as Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Kansas, consideration of the specific circumstances of the vaccination that caused the adverse reaction, as suggested by the questions above, will help to guide the determination of compensability.
For Minnesota claims, there is an additional statutory provision that may need to be considered. MN Stat. 176.011, Subd. 16 specifically states “an injury or disease resulting from a vaccine in response to a declaration by the United States Department of Health and Human Services to ‘address an actual or potential health risk’ related to the employee’s employment is an injury or disease arising out of and in the course of employment.” Thus, in Minnesota where the COVID-19 vaccine reaction rises to the level of an injury or disease, and was related to the employee’s employment, the medical treatment and any lost time from work most likely would be compensable.
If an employer mandates vaccination, or strongly encourages the employee to obtain the vaccine for work-related reasons, the scales will more likely tip in favor of compensability.
The COVID-19 vaccine-related reaction claims may contain varying facts and medical situations. Please contact your attorney before making any employment or workers’ compensation liability determinations.
This is not intended to serve as legal advice for individual fact-specific legal cases or as a legal basis for your employment practices.
Small Business Accounts Claims Specialist Beth Couette has worked at SFM for nine years, and in the workers’ compensation industry for 35 years. We asked Beth for some details about herself and her role.
You’ve been a workers’ compensation claims representative for many years now. Why have you chosen to stay working in this field?
I have always found this job to be interesting as no two claims are the same, therefore, every day is different. It’s also nice being able to help somebody through the work comp process.
How would you describe your role?
My job is helping people that have had a work comp injury get back to their pre-injury condition with as little disruption to their lives as possible. Another big part of my job is guiding our insureds through the claims process as most small business owners haven’t had a lot of experience with workers’ compensation claims.
How is SFM different from other carriers that you’ve worked for over the years?
I was so impressed the first week I started at SFM as I happened to pass our CEO at the time and he welcomed me and knew my name! I thought, “Oh, this is really different. This is going to be a really nice company to work for.” My first impression was correct, it has been a great place to work for the last almost 10 years. There are also so many resources that we have available to us — in-house legal, physician advisors, claims techs, etc. I also like the fact that we work in teams, with claims and underwriting working alongside of each other.
Is there a time that stands out to you when your job was particularly rewarding?
It’s nice to get feedback from an injured worker stating that they appreciate all the work you’ve done for them during their claim. I got an email recently from an injured worker who had two surgeries and had been out of work for almost two years, and we finally got a discharge for him to return to work. The email stated how much he appreciated everything we had done for him. That was really nice to hear. It makes the job worthwhile.
What do you like about your job?
It can be a very emotional and hard time when you’ve been injured on the job, so it’s nice being able to help somebody get through that rough time and get them back on their feet.
What words of wisdom do you have for small business employers?
It’s important to get first reports of injury into SFM as soon as possible (especially if they are lost time) because we have time limits from the state that start when the employer learns of the injury. The sooner we can get that claim, the sooner we can get going on investigating, taking statements and gathering medical information. It also helps when they’re able to give us as much information as possible, like how the injury happened and what the employee was doing at the time, etc. Also, if they have any concerns on the claim, let us know up front and as soon as possible so that we can explore those concerns. Another thing I think that’s important is for the employer to keep in contact with the injured employee — to periodically check in with them if they’re off of work to find out how they’re doing and express that they’re looking forward to having them back.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I love to travel, whether it be across the United States or short road trips. I like to read. I love pretty much all sports, whether watching on TV or going to sporting events. My kids are adults now but I love to spend time with them.
SFM Mutual Insurance Co. announced that its Financial Strength Rating of “A- (Excellent)” and Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” have been reaffirmed by AM Best Rating Services, Inc.
AM Best issued this affirmation based on its assessment of SFM’s balance sheet strength, as well as its operating performance, business profile, innovation and enterprise risk management. Prior to publicly disclosing this affirmation, AM Best conducted a detailed analysis of SFM’s finances and operations.
“Our annual review with AM Best gives us the opportunity to share our company’s story with experts from the largest credit rating agency in the world,” said SFM President and CEO Terry Miller. “We view their rating as an important indicator of SFM’s long-term financial strength and stability.”
About AM Best
AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com .
SFM Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Kathy Bray is among this year’s recipients of the Minnesota Lawyer In-House Counsel Awards . A celebration breakfast and award ceremony were held on April 21, 2022, at Leopold’s Mississippi Gardens in Brooklyn Park, MN.
