The McGeorge Alternative Summer Advantage Program (“McGeorge ASAP”) is a self-directed volunteer summer legal research project created by alum Lexi Purich Howard and Asst. Dean of Career Development Molly Stafford in response to COVID-19. The program matched McGeorge students who lost summer opportunities due to the pandemic with local attorneys for guidance on a research project on the topic of the student’s choosing. This week’s ASAP paper was authored by Alexander Ames (2L, 2022) under the mentorship of Nathaniel Jenkins, an associate at Littler Mendelson P.C. This paper was written during the summer of 2020 and shortly after the enactment of California Executive Order N-62-20; however, Mr. Ames’s insights on the issues remain pertinent and will inform how future cases may be ruled in the event of another, or continued, pandemic.
“In early 2020, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic began spreading rapidly across California. Currently in California there are more than 420,000 cases and over 8,000 deaths.[i] Initially, there was a statewide shut down that left many people either without work, or working from the safety of their homes, remotely. In the following months, many industries have started to open, and many workers are returning to work. This poses several questions, such as who would be held liable if an employee contracts COVID-19 while at work? The answer on the surface may be simple, but there can be rising, troublesome complications that follow…”