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COMPTON (CNS) - A Silver Lake woman and her three daughters have dropped their lawsuit against See's Candies Inc., in which they alleged the woman contracted COVID-19 in 2020 while working for the company and subsequently infected her 72-year-old husband, who died of complications from the virus.
Matilde Ek and her daughters brought the suit in December 2020, alleging wrongful death and negligence. Her spouse, restaurant server Arturo Ek, died April 20, 2020.
The plaintiffs' attorneys filed court papers Tuesday with Compton Superior Court Judge Michael Shultz requesting dismissal of the case "without prejudice," meaning it can be refiled. The court papers do not state if a settlement was reached or if the case was not being pursued for other reasons.
In their court papers, See's attorneys maintained that Matilde Ek's workplace illness, including her husband's death and any other injuries derived from her sickness, belong in the workers' compensation arena and not the courts.
Matilde Ek, now 72, was employed in an assembly line at See's Candies' packing facility on Alameda Street in Carson, according to the suit, which stated that See's management was aware of the "highly dangerous, contagious and transmissible nature of the virus" and that employees were working and interacting in close proximity.
The workers complained about the job environment directly to management and through their union in the hope of getting safer work conditions, the suit says. However, management did not "operate and conduct their business as would and should be expected to protect their employees," the suit alleged.
Sometime in early to mid-March 2020, Matilde Ek, while working and interacting in close proximity to other employees on the production line, in restrooms and in the break rooms, was exposed to people coughing and sneezing and became infected with the coronavirus along with other co-workers, the suit stated.
Unable to remain at work, Matilde Ek went home to convalesce, where she soon infected her husband and one of their daughters, Karla Ek-Elhadidy, the suit states. Less than a month later, her husband died of COVID-19, according to the suit.