WASHINGTON — Republican leaders in Congress are expressing initial support for some sort of “shield” to protect businesses from a wide range of lawsuits that could result from reopening a business during the coronavirus pandemic.
Numerous business lobbyists and others have been pushing for such a shield as states increasingly lift stay-at-home orders either on partial or full basis.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has indicated he supports such protections.
“…Lobbyists say retailers, manufacturers, eateries and other businesses will struggle to start back up if lawmakers do not place temporary limits on legal liability in areas including worker privacy, employment discrimination and product manufacturing,” the New York Times reported. “The biggest push, business groups say, is to give companies enhanced protection against lawsuits by customers or employees who contract the virus and accuse the business of being the source of the infection.”
The Times quoted administration officials as saying they are examining how they could create some of those shields via regulation or executive order. “But lobbyists and lawmakers agree that the most consequential changes would need to come from Congress — where the effort has run into partisan divisions that could complicate lawmakers’ ability to pass another stimulus package,” the Times added, saying Republicans want liability limitations put in place against “overzealous trial lawyers.”
Dems Want Workers Protected
Democratic leaders have said they would oppose any moves to undermine worker protections, the Times added.
“Leaders of labor unions say limiting business liability will reward companies that are not taking adequate steps to ensure the safety of their workers and consumers,” according to the Times report.
“The trial lawyers are sharpening their pencils to come after health care providers and businesses, arguing that somehow the decision they made with regard to reopening adversely affected the health of someone else,” told Fox News Radio, saying without some sort of shield in place there will be “years of endless lawsuits.”
McConnell has suggested that the liability issue would need to be resolved before Congress provided any financial relief to states, “teeing up a big fight over the next aid package,” the Times stated.
‘Basic Safety Steps’
Samuel Estreicher, a New York University Law School professor of labor and employment law, told the Times it would make sense for the Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to issue guidance about basic safety steps businesses should follow.
“For example, he said, it would be useful to promulgate guidance that, if a business requires its workers and customers to wear masks and practice social distancing to the extent practicable, it would have a ‘safe harbor’ from being considered by the federal government to be negligent — a standard that could also discourage state-court lawsuits,” the Times reported. “He also said it made sense to tell businesses they could require employees to pass a test for the virus before returning to work without running afoul of disability discrimination and health privacy laws.”