Frequently Asked Questions regarding the COVID-19 Vaccine

Can My Employer Require that I Receive the COVID-19 Vaccine?

Yes. Your employer can require that you receive a COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of your employment. The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued guidance stating that federal EEO laws do not prevent an employer from requiring its employees to be vaccinated. An exception may arise, however, if there are religious reasons or a recognized disability prevents an employee from being vaccinated.

What if I am Injured by the COVID-19 Vaccine in North Carolina?

If your employer required the COVID-19 vaccine as part of employment and you are injured as a result, you may be entitled to Workers’ Compensation benefits from your employer. North Carolina Workers’ Compensation laws will pay for medical expenses and lost wages as a result of a workplace accident so long as the following three elements are satisfied:

• The injury must be the result of an “accident;”
• The injury must arise out of employment; and
• The injury must have been sustained in the course of employment. Clark v. Wal-Mart, 360 N.C. 41,43, 619 S.E.2d 491, 492 (2005).

So long as each of these requirements is met your employer should pay you workers’ compensation benefits.

Is an Injury from a COVID-19 Vaccine an “Accident” In North Carolina?

Generally, there must be an “accident” for workers’ compensation benefits to apply. “Accident” has been defined as an unlooked for and untoward event which is not expected or designed by the injured worker. Adams v. Burlington Industries, Inc., 61 N.C. App. 258, 260, 300 S.E.2d 455, 456 (1983). North Carolina courts have defined “accident” in different ways, but there is general consensus that an “accident” is unexpected or unusual. A worker who falls while walking on the job is a classic example of a workplace “accident.” On the other hand, an injury as a result of normal job activities, like a truck loader who injures himself by lifting materials he normally lifts without any unforeseen event occurring, would not be considered an “accident.”

We argue that an adverse reaction from a vaccination is an accident as defined by North Carolina case law and statutes. Injuries from vaccinations are rare.

The Federal Government has established a Vaccine Compensation Fund to compensate persons injured from certain types of vaccinations. The New York Times reports that “There were about two claims of injury for every one million doses of all vaccines distributed in the United States from 2006 to 2017…”

The fact that injury from a vaccination is so rare is evidence that a vaccine injury should be deemed an “accident” under workers’ compensation rules in North Carolina. When a person receives a vaccination, the expectation is that no injury will occur and it is extremely rare to result in injury. When an injury does occur, it is certainly “unexpected,” “unforeseen” and an “unlooked for and untoward event which is not expected” which squarely matches the definition of an “accident.”

When Does an Injury from a COVID-19 Vaccine “Arise Out of Employment?”

The term “arising out of employment” does not have a precise definition. North Carolina courts have kept its definition broad, but it is generally encapsulated in the phrase, “some causal relation between the injury and the performance of some service of employment.” In the case of a COVID-19 vaccine injury, we argue that it “arises out of employment” if the employer requires the vaccination. Without the employer requiring the vaccination, it is difficult to make a connection between the vaccine injury and the employee’s job. The North Carolina Industrial Commission, at least on one occasion, has found that a vaccine injury arose out of employment where a CNA received a flu vaccine during orientation at the employer’s business, even though she could have declined the vaccine. The court reasoned that because her job required her to be around elderly patients and if left unvaccinated, she was more likely to spread the flu to the elderly patients, her vaccination benefited the employer. If you are injured by the COVID-19 vaccine and your employer required that you receive the vaccine, the injury may well be determined to “arises out of employment” because it benefits the employer to not have COVID-19 spread to its employees which could result in missed time from work and a potential shut down or slowing of operations.

When is an Injury from a COVID-19 Vaccine “In the Course of Employment?”

“Out of” refers to the origin or cause of the accident and “in the course of” refers to the time, place and circumstances under which the injury occurred. In this step of the analysis, an injury from a COVID-19 vaccination will more likely be considered “in the course of employment” when the administration is more closely connected with the physical premises of the employer, the administration occurred during work hours and circumstances such as the employer paying for the vaccination. A nurse working for a hospital receives the Covid-19 vaccine while on the clock, the vaccine is administered at the hospital she normally works, and the employer provides the vaccination free of charge to her is almost certainly considered to be “in the course of employment” if she is injured from that vaccination.

About the Author

Attorney Gabriel Snyder is a NC licensed attorney at Ward Black Law where he represents people in North Carolina who have been injured in car wrecks or hurt at work. Gabe earned his undergraduate degree from Campbell University and his law degree from Campbell School of Law. He received the Millie Wiggins Scholarship and the Howard Memorial Christian Citizenship Award during his time at Campbell Law. He was named by the National Trial Lawyers as “Top 40 Under 40” attorneys in North Carolina.

Snyder met his wife, Audrey, during undergraduate school at Campbell and then they attended Campbell Law together. After they were married, they returned to Gabe’s hometown of Greensboro to pursue their legal careers.

After graduating law school, Gabe Snyder joined Snyder Law where he worked alongside his father, Barry Snyder, practicing personal injury, family and criminal law. Now Gabe and Audrey Snyder are a husband and wife team of lawyers, both practicing at Ward Black Law.