Our friend Rod Satterwhite of McGuire Woods LLP observes on his Suits in the Workplace blog that a police officer in Wales has filed what appears to be the first bird flu lawsuit. Rod notes:

So if (or some would say when) we start facing bird flu exposure issues in U.S. workplaces, employers will at a minimum need to have some awareness of the potential threat of viral exposure, and will need to consider providing adequate training and equipment for addressing that risk. Note also that this might not be a question for high-risk occupations like police officers. One very difficult issue in the area of disaster preparedness and avian flu planning is for employers who require employees to travel abroad as a part of their jobs. Depending on where they must travel, even traditional white-collar jobs could pose a greater risk of exposure, and could therefore trigger obligations that employers take reasonable precautions on behalf of their employees.