Shuttle company must pay benefits to widow for driver's COVID death
The widow told the court that her husband was not a smoker and had no significant medical history that could compound the danger of the virus.
A Philadelphia workers’ compensation judge has found an airport shuttle company liable to pay benefits to the widow of a Darby, Penn., man who contracted and ultimately died from COVID-19 in April 2020.
State Workers’ Compensation Judge Tina Maria Rago ordered First Transit Inc. and New Hampshire Insurance Co. to pay the widow of 51-year-old Sekou Kromah $270.25 weekly, equal to half of Kromah’s compensation rate, dating back to April 5, 2020, plus 10% statutory interest and $4,643.70 in litigation costs.
Kromah, who lived in Darby and worked full time as an airport shuttle bus driver for First Transit, was represented by Jerry Lehocky of Pond Lehocky Giordano. The decision was dated May 26.
Kromah was laid off several days before he first reported COVID symptoms in early April 2020 and was later admitted to a hospital, where he died April 26. The claim was filed in August 2020.
Kromah’s wife, Matenken Kromah, was deposed and told the court her husband had been driving for First Transit for six or seven months before his death, was not a smoker and had no significant medical history that could compound the danger of the virus.
One doctor testified that he believed First Transit was the source of Kromah’s infection, while another testified for First Transit that with some confusion over exactly when Kromah began showing symptoms, it would be difficult to pinpoint exactly when he was exposed to the virus, noting Kromah’s wife and another family member living with them at the time both worked at a skilled nursing facility.
In her decision, the judge accepted the opinion of the doctor who testified for Kromah’s side over the doctor testifying for First Transit, noting that the latter practiced in Charleston, South Carolina, not Philadelphia.
“This difference in the geographical area of practice is especially relevant due to the disparate infection and case count levels during the early months of the pandemic,” she wrote.
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