Kentucky Legislation Introduced Relating to Mandatory Immunization and Workers' Compensation Compensability for Adverse Reactions

Is there any guidance with state compensability if a company makes vaccinations mandatory and adverse reactions occur? 

There is currently no statute or guidance on this issue in Kentucky. The following bills have been pre-filed regarding immunization and compensability for adverse reactions. 

Bill Request 358 would ban employers from altering any conditions of a worker’s employment due to that worker declining immunization or refusing to disclose immunization status. It would also prohibit employers from requiring immunization as a condition of employment. 

Bill Request 106 prohibits public entity employers from requiring employees and applicants to disclose their immunization status. It also prohibits private employers from requiring an employee to obtain a specific immunization if that employee objects by a written sworn statement based on religious grounds or conscientiously held beliefs. 

Directly relating to the above question, Bill Request 353 would establish worker’s compensation liability when an employee develops an adverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine in instances where employers require immunization against COVID-19 as a condition of continued or new employment, place additional conditions on employees who decline immunization or incentivize immunization against COVID-19. The act would also create a rebuttable presumption that an adverse reaction was caused by the COVID-19 vaccine if the reaction was not present before the immunization and occurs within 14 days of the immunization. This bill would be retroactive to December 14, 2020.

These bills will be considered during the 2022 legislative session that begins on January 11, 2022.

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Provided by H. Douglas Jones, Esq. and Margo J. Menefee, Esq., of JSB Attorneys, PLLC. 

JSB Attorneys PLLC, is a community-rooted practice in Fort Mitchell serving all of Kentucky and Ohio. We offer friendly and personal service. This client-centered approach is fundamental to our entire practice. We believe everyone deserves the highest level of service, dedication, and professionalism.

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