Popular chocolatier See's Candy is at the center of a negligence and wrongful death lawsuit after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus. The employee’s husband later contracted the virus from her and passed away shortly after.

Maria Saucillo was a longtime employee of the See's Candy Shop packaging warehouse in Los Angeles. According to the lawsuit, Saucillo tested positive for the virus after contracting it at work and then later passed it on to her husband and one of her daughters. After nearly a month of battling the virus, Saucillo’s husband Gilbert Saucillo Jr. passed away at age 69 on April 20, 2020. Saucillo and both her daughters are listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Saucillo contends that she contracted the virus from the warehouse after the company failed to adhere to Covid safety protocols including social distancing and providing proper PPE. Her lawsuit also explains that multiple employees reached out to management to voice their concerns about working in such close proximity to one another. However, management forced the employees to continue working without the proper safety guards.

The complaint expresses how the company did not take worker complaints seriously even when workers were visibly sick. "Multiple employees were coughing and sick, but were not sent home," the complaint reads. It was not until late March that the warehouse shut down after Saucillo tested positive for the virus.

While the damages are not specified, the lawsuit’s merit essentially challenges California's current worker’s compensation law. Under the “exclusive remedy” rule in the law, although workers can obtain compensation for a job-related injury, they cannot outright sue an employee for damages. In the era of coronavirus, however, lawsuits similar to Saucillo’s are challenging how companies navigate the safety of their employees when it comes to public health.

There have been growing complaints against employers and their lack of safety measures regarding the virus. Several lawsuits have already been filed against major businesses on the grounds of safety and public health.

Last month, California's Foster Farms was issued a temporary restraining order which required the poultry company to adhere to a county health regulator’s COVID-19 safety protocols. The protocols were put into place after a coronavirus outbreak at the facility. The outbreak caused over 400 workers to get sick and resulted in the death of nine individuals.

Tyson Foods is another company that has been hit at least twice with lawsuits claiming that the company did not properly safeguard their employees from the Coronavirus. Much like See's Candy, Tyson Foods has faced lawsuits that they did not provide workers with proper PPE and implement safeguards like social distancing.

In November, several top executives at Tyson Foods were also suspended after they were found to be betting on how many workers would become infected with the virus.

Since the early days of the pandemic, legislation has been put forward to help protect businesses from lawsuits related to the virus. In July 2020, Republican senator John Cornyn introduced the Safe to Work Act that would help protect businesses from liability related to the virus.