Question

Do you think legislation should be passed to protect business from potential legal liability from COVID-19 lawsuits? Explain. Regardless of your answer, if such a law were passed, do you think that gross negligence is the appropriate standard of care for such a law? If so, explain why it is a reasonable standard. If not, what standard of care is appropriate here and why?

Answer 1

Legislation should be passed to protect business from potential legal liability from COVID-19 lawsuits.

Business acting in good faith and following practices that can deter COVID-19 infection at workplace should be provided immunity. Unless we have vaccine that can control COVID-19, any practice however good it may be, there is no guarantee that it will not spread within a business or another entity.

Companies have on their own started with ideas to prevent spread of COVID-19. For example, Swig Equities LLC, a privately owned real estate investment and development company is planning measures such as one-way lanes in public corridors in lobbies and plexiglass dividers in offices at his properties.

Legislation is imminent as there are more than 700 corona related lawsuits already filed nationwide in April and it is beyond doubt that many more such lawsuits will come up in coming months as well. Businesses are under lot of stress.

While enactment of suitable legislation will provide much needed relief to business community, the law must provide guidelines for reasonable standard practice that should be followed within business entity to contain the risk of contagion.

Reasonable standard would include wearing mask , temperature check, social distancing, sanitization of business place, working with 50/60/70% workforce and remaining staff are made to work from home so as to reduce congestion at work place, but this doesn’t mean that following reasonable standard would completely eliminate the risk of contracting COVID-19.

Any business which follows the reasonable standard should be provided immunity from COVD-19 lawsuit, and only in case of business entity with gross negligence of safety procedure that this immunity shield should be taken off. Liability should not be taken off completely or plaintiff be denied compensation altogether , if there are strong reason to believe that the work place or business entity is responsible for injury . Business entity must be able to prove that every reasonable care has been taken to prevent or eliminate the risk of spreading COVID-19.