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Texas court rejects COVID comp death benefits claim - Business Insurance Skip to content Register for free Search Search Log In Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Texas court rejects COVID comp death benefits claim by Louise Esola Claims Disputes , Coronavirus , Workers Comp Coverage , Workplace Safety Apr 30, 2026 A Texas appeals court on Tuesday affirmed a ruling denying workers compensation death benefits to the family of a county worker who died from COVID-19, finding they failed to show he contracted the disease through his job, dismissing medical testimony it deemed “unreliable.” The 14th Court of Appeals in Houston upheld summary judgment for Brazoria County in Hill v. Brazoria County , ruling that the trial court did not err in excluding the family’s medical expert or in finding insufficient evidence that John Hill’s COVID-19 was an occupational disease. Mr. Hill worked as a drainage crew foreman in the county’s Road and Bridge Department. He began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms in late August or early September 2021, was hospitalized Sept. 10, 2021, and died Oct. 5, 2021, from pneumonia resulting from COVID-19, according to the ruling. His wife and children sought death benefits, alleging Mr. Hill contracted COVID-19 at work because several co-workers were ill around the same time and some continued reporting to work despite symptoms. Brazoria County denied the claim, stating available information did not confirm that workplace exposure was a producing cause of his illness or death. An administrative law judge found Mr. Hill did not sustain a compensable injury in the form of an occupational disease, and a workers compensation appeals panel let that ruling become final. The family then sought judicial review. The family’s expert, Dr. John Blevins, opined that Mr. Hill likely contracted COVID-19 at work, but the appeals court said the trial court properly excluded his testimony as unreliable. The court noted that Dr. Blevins had not spoken to anyone at Mr. Hill’s workplace, relied largely on statements from Mr. Hill’s wife about what her husband had told her, and lacked confirmed COVID-19 test results for most allegedly sick co-workers. The court also noted that Dr. Blevins acknowledged COVID-19 was an “ordinary disease of life” at the time and did not adequately explain a methodology for determining that COVID-19 was present in an increased degree at Mr. Hill’s workplace compared with employment generally. 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