Labor lawyer: Fear of Ebola no excuse to dodge work responsibilities

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Kim Moore, labor and employment attorney at law firm Strasburger.

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Bill Hethcock

Staff Writer- Dallas Business Journal

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With the rise of Ebola cases in Dallas, some companies are reporting that employees are refusing to perform assigned tasks if they feel it might put them at risk of contracting the virus.

What's an employer to do?

An increasing number of companies have been seeking legal advice on Ebola-related questions, Kim Moore, who heads up the Labor & Employment section for Strasburger LLP in Frisco, told me in an interview.

"People are reluctant," she said. "They don't seem to want to come to work. We've gotten some calls saying, 'We've heard this person was exposed — they were on the same flight or they live in the same neighborhood as a person who has Ebola.' Or employees are saying 'We don't want to clean airplanes, etc., because we're concerned about this now.' There's a lot of fear. Employers are calling and asking 'What can we do?'"

The question for employers becomes, what can you require employees to do? Can you require them to come to work and perform the same job tasks they've always done?

"The answer from our perspective is generally, absolutely," Moore said. "Unless there is imminent danger — and that's a pretty high threshold — people need to perform their work, and you can require them to perform their work."

Bill covers health care, law, education and general assignments. Subscribe to our email newsletters.