RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KNX) – The family of a Riverside County employee filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the county after he contracted COVID-19 at work and died.
In the lawsuit the family of Michael Haywood, who worked for the county’s flood control district, said he was exposed to COVID at work in December 2020. Although he and his wife both tested positive, he died from the virus in February 2021. His wife also said she suffers long-term symptoms from the virus.
Haywood’s wife said her husband’s bosses knew he was at high-risk because he had a respiratory condition and was diabetic, according to CBS L.A.
Haywood was also a two-time cancer survivor.
In addition, the lawsuit also said Haywood had asked his supervisors if he could work remotely until he was vaccinated, but his request was denied.
When Haywood confided in flood control’s senior safety supervisor about the lack of COVID-19 protocols, he was told by the coordinator that “upper management” prevented him from implementing them, according to the Press-Enterprise.
“I know I can’t have my husband back,” Haywood’s wife, Elizabeth, said in a press conference on Monday. “ But I can ask for change … in the system that failed him so that no other family has to suffer needless loss.”
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