Riverside County employee’s COVID-19 death could have been prevented, lawsuit alleges

A family alleges that Riverside County is liable for an employee’s death from COVID-19 and his wife’s debilitating “long-haul” virus symptoms after ignoring his pleas to work from home and implement safeguards at his workplace.

Michael Haywood’s widow and one of his adult sons held a news conference Monday, Jan. 10, outside Riverside County Superior Court, where attorney V. James DeSimone’s firm planned to file the lawsuit alleging wrongful death and violating state regulations protecting disabled workers.

“We are here today because the county of Riverside did not do everything reasonably necessary to protect the lives of its employees … (and) the life of Michael Haywood,” DeSimone said.

The Yucaipa resident “was a long-term employee. He was a good employee. And instead of providing those reasonable accommodations — a 61-year-old man, a man with his life in front of him … the county denied it.”

In an emailed statement, county spokesperson Brooke Federico said the county is “very saddened” by Haywood’s death. The county had yet to receive the lawsuit as of Monday afternoon, “and cannot discuss details involving pending litigation,” Federico said.

“The county takes necessary coronavirus precautions to prevent and stop the spread of COVID-19,” she wrote. “This includes working closely with all county departments, local and state public health officials and CalOSHA to ensure best practices are followed for the safety and wellbeing of county employees.”

Tearing up, Elizabeth Haywood said that, when her husband died, “I lost my life partner, my best friend. I lost my playmate, my protector, my traveling companion, my lover, my mechanic and handyman and so much more.”

“ … I know I can’t have my husband back. But I can ask for change … in the system that failed him so that no other family has to suffer needless loss.”

The press conference on the front steps of the Riverside Historic Courthouse took place against a backdrop of photos of Michael Haywood placed on easels, including a close-up image of him on his hospital bed with equipment helping him breathe.

Dustin Haywood, Michael’s son, said he and his father brewed beer, traveled and “had a lot of first-time experiences with one another.”

“We hiked in Oceanside. We tried craft beer at Stone Brewery. We went ziplining in Lake Tahoe and wine tasting in Temecula,” Dustin Haywood said. “We had plans to go to Germany and visit his family once COVID was dealt with … (My wife and I) were planning on having children soon. But they will never be able to know the love of their grandfather.”

Haywood, a grandfather of 11 when he died Feb. 2, 2021, lived in Yucaipa with his wife. The couple’s four children are listed as co-plaintiffs.

Haywood was an equipment service supervisor for Riverside County’s Flood Control and Water Conservation District when the pandemic hit. Federico said he worked there 15 years.

The 32-page lawsuit, which seeks punitive damages and “injunctive relief” to protect county employees at high risk from the coronavirus, alleges the following:

• He was a two-time cancer survivor, used an inhaler at work and had other conditions, including diabetes and hypertension, that put him at heightened risk of severe COVID-19 complications. In addition, Elizabeth Haywood had autoimmune diseases that heightened her risk of severe problems if she were infected.
• Two of Haywood’s supervisors worked from home at least some of the week, but he was denied permission to work remotely and had to work every day in a windowless office with poor ventilation and shared common areas, like a breakroom, with co-workers who didn’t always wear masks.
• Haywood told his supervisors about his medical conditions and his wife’s and asked to work remotely until he was vaccinated, but was turned down. His bosses also refused a request to work staggered schedules with a co-worker with whom he shared an office.
• Haywood complained to flood control’s senior safety coordinator about the lack of virus screening or COVID-19 protocols. The coordinator replied that he was trying to implement protocols “but that upper management … was preventing him from doing so.”

• Haywood worked from home for two weeks after a co-worker tested positive in October, proving he could do his job remotely. He was still denied permission to work from home. Employees were directed to eat lunch and take breaks at different times to avoid large gatherings, but workers were not screened for the virus or required to wear masks.
• Haywood started showing COVID-19 symptoms Dec. 14, 2020. Contract tracing determined he was exposed to the virus at his office through a co-worker. He tested positive Dec. 17. Five days later, he had a temperature of 101.5 and struggled to breathe.
• He was hospitalized for COVID-19 on Christmas Day 2020. Elizabeth Haywood tested positive Jan. 5, 2021, and continues to suffer suffers from “long-term debilitating physical and psychological symptoms” including “brain fog, shortness of breath, panic attacks, headaches, intense nausea with vomiting, vertigo, and heart palpitations.”

Michael Haywood “never came home from the hospital” and was forced to retire Jan. 3, the suit states. He died about a month later.

“My husband would be here today” if someone had listened to him, Elizabeth Haywood said at Monday’s news conference.