Government Loses Bid to Dismiss Prison Employees’ COVID-19 Hazard Pay Lawsuit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the government by 115 Kentucky federal prison workers who say they are entitled to hazard pay because they were exposed to COVID-19 during the course of their employment.

In a Dec. 14 order, Judge David A. Tapp of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims found the employees “have stated a plausible claim for relief that is not so vague or ambiguous that the United States is unable to reasonably prepare a response.”

Plaintiffs are current and former employees of the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, …