In what might be a first for Texas, the family of a health care worker who died from COVID-19 has sued his employer for not providing personal protective equipment to prevent his infection.

Maurice Dotson, who died April 17, worked for 25 years as a certified nurse aide at the West Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Austin. His mother, Florence Dodson, has sued his employer, Regency IHS of West Oaks, alleging the company "put profits over the safety of its patients and staff."

The company didn't provide masks and other protective gear, which exposed patients and staff to infection, said the petition in Dodson v. Regency IHS of West Oaks, filed Wednesday in Travis County District Court.

"As far as I know, it is the first lawsuit related to a health care worker dying from COVID-19 in Texas," said Quentin Brogdon, partner in Crain Brogdon Rogers in Dallas, who is co-counsel for the plaintiff.

But it won't be the last.

Plaintiffs attorneys across the country are gearing up to sue over injuries and deaths from COVID-19 exposure. They've already targeted cruise ships, a meat-processing plant and elderly care facilities, law.com reported this month.

Read more: God's Waiting Room: Litigating Nursing Home Cases in the Age of COVID-19

Dodson, who is suing for herself and for her son's estate, alleged that in late March the Texas Health and Human Services Department inspected West Oaks and cited the company for personal protective equipment violations.

The defendant did not recognize the likelihood that the virus would hit West Oaks and didn't appreciate the danger of COVID-19, the suit said. The company didn't develop and implement policies and procedures about how to respond to the coronavirus infections there, did not train staff about preventing and containing the virus, failed to train nurse aides about using personal protective equipment, and failed to provide that equipment to them, among other things, according to the petition.

The harm to Maurice Dodson was foreseeable, the plaintiff alleged. The company failed to protect him, said the lawsuit.

The plaintiff is suing for negligence and seeks more than $1 million in survival damages for the mother, wrongful death damages for the son and exemplary damages.

"Regency was consciously aware of an extreme degree of risk to its patient and healthcare workers such as Maurice Dotson and those similarly situated, but it nevertheless proceeded in failing to act to protect them in complete disregard for the rights, safety and welfare of Mr. Dotson and those similarly situated," the petition said.

Brooke Ladner, senior vice president at Regency Integrated Health Services in Victoria, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

"Nurses and nursing assistants like Maurice shouldn't have to fight their employers for PPE at any time, but definitely in a pandemic," said plaintiffs co-counsel Kathleen Kearney. "They shouldn't have to sacrifice their lives for us."

Brogdon added, "They are taking care of us, and we need to take care of them. When we don't take care of them, there needs to be consequences, and that's what this lawsuit is about."

Read the petition: