Can I sue my employer for exposing me to the COVID virus

First, you will not be able to get "pain and suffering" in any workers' compensation case.  Workers' compensation systems are substitutes for non-economic damages (like "pain and suffering") that you might otherwise qualify for in fault-based systems of recovery.  Instead, workers' compensation systems provide economic benefits, mainly in the form of weekly checks to replace lost earning capacity, and payment of medical bills. If your employment placed you at a greater hazard or risk than the public in general of contracting COVID-19, then you might qualify for workers' compensation under South Carolina law as an occupational disease.  The real fight is if your job placed you at a greater risk, statistically speaking, of contracting the virus. There is some research already out there suggesting that grocery store workers are at a heightened risk.  See https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/covid-19-workers-compensation.aspx. So far, though, we haven't seen any published decisions by the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission or South Carolina appellate courts looking at COVID-19 specifically, although we'll likely see some in the next year or two.  Until that happens, it's hard to predict what South Carolina will do.   Other than filing an occupational disease claim, if there was a specific incident that led to your contraction of COVID-19, the incident might qualify as an "injury" by accident.