Andorra Court Rejects Teacher's Long Covid Work Accident Claim

The Administrative Chamber of Andorra's Superior Court has rejected a teacher's claim that her 2020 coronavirus infection, which led to long Covid and a depressive disorder, should be classified as a work-related accident.

The teacher, who worked at a school designated as an essential service during the pandemic, argued she contracted the virus at her workplace. She took sick leave starting 17 August 2021, prescribed by a psychiatrist for a mixed adaptive disorder involving anxiety and depressed mood, linked to her persistent Covid symptoms. She remained on leave until her medical discharge on 22 October 2023, nearly two years later.

The court dismissed the appeal, upholding the Batllia's initial denial, for three main reasons. First, no objective evidence proves the infection occurred at work, despite the profession's social interactions increasing exposure risk to SARS-CoV-2. Magistrates stressed that mere suspicion does not meet the legal requirement for the illness to stem exclusively from job duties.

Second, the teacher had prior mental health issues: a prolonged depressive adaptation reaction from 3 April to 3 May 2019, and ongoing psychopharmacological treatment for ADHD since May 2018, prescribed by the same psychiatrist who later issued her Covid-related leave and served as an expert witness.

Third, she did not request work accident recognition until 8 June 2023—over 20 months after her initial sick leave began on 29 September 2020—claiming she needed time to understand long Covid's effects.

The teacher highlighted her obligation to work amid contagion risks and noted her school later closed due to a Covid outbreak, though after her sick leave started. Her expert witness insisted the persistent Covid caused her depression, but the court rejected this as unproven.

The ruling emphasises that schools' essential status during the pandemic does not automatically deem infections work-related without concrete proof.