Guard Wins Million-Shekel Payout After COVID-19 Legal Battle
A prison guard who developed severe sleep apnea after contracting COVID-19 at work won a six-year legal battle against Bituach Leumi, securing a 20% disability rating and one million shekels in projected benefits.
A prison guard in his 40s has successfully concluded a six-year legal battle with the National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi) after contracting COVID-19 while on duty in August 2020.
Despite being a non-smoking athlete with no prior weight issues, the guard suffered a severe deterioration in his health following the coronavirus infection, ultimately requiring an oxygen machine due to extreme sleep apnea. While the National Insurance Institute initially recognized the infection as a work-related accident, it repeatedly refused to link his worsening condition to the virus, assigning him a zero percent disability rating.
Represented by attorney Shfaa Alsheikh, the guard appealed the decision to the Haifa Labor Court. During the proceedings, pulmonary specialist Prof. Oren Fruchtter submitted an expert medical opinion establishing that the COVID-19 infection drastically exacerbated the guard's preexisting mild sleep apnea to the highest severity level, recommending a 65% disability rating.
The Labor Court identified procedural flaws in the medical committee's rulings, ruling that the panel failed to adequately address the medical expert's conclusions or properly evaluate whether the virus aggravated a preexisting condition. Following the court's intervention, the committee reconvened and officially recognized the causal link.
The guard has been awarded a 20% permanent disability rating. He has already received approximately 190,000 shekels in retroactive payments dating back to 2020, and is projected to receive cumulative monthly allowances totaling around one million shekels until his retirement.
