WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – Democratic leaders in states like North Carolina and New York have embraced the idea that giving companies a measure of protection from coronavirus lawsuits is in the best idea of their constituents, but it remains to be seen if the U.S. House of Representatives feels the same.
Republicans in Congress are making a push to enact liability shields but expect a fight from the Democrat-led House, even though recent poll figures show bipartisan support for less litigation.
Targets for personal injury lawyers are seemingly endless as non-essential businesses attempt to decide in reopened states whether to open their doors to customers and employees.
And health care providers are struggling to protect patients and employees against a disease that isn’t fully understood.
So, in places like Gov. Roy Cooper’s North Carolina and Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s New York, lawmakers have passed measures that protect health care workers except in cases of gross negligence or reckless conduct.
In Cooper’s case, he was willing to sign that provision despite tension with Republicans who control both houses of the state Legislature.
“There is more work ahead of us, and I hope the spirit of consensus behind these bills will continue,” Cooper said when signing the legislation.
Republican Phil Berger, the state Senate President Pro Tem, said Cooper’s signature “sends a signal to our citizens that our state is moving past this crisis and that action is being taken to address their concerns.”
New York was perhaps seen as the model for helping health care providers despite a history as one of the most plaintiff lawyer-friendly legislatures in the country. Both houses are controlled by Democrats, traditionally the party that receives the bulk of personal injury lawyer support.
Pre-coronavirus, Democrats in the U.S. House attempted to push through a measure that would have expanded liability to countless companies over a chemical called PFAS, but Senate Republicans stopped it from happening.
As for coronavirus lawsuits, Democrat and Republican voters nearly equally support protections for companies who could face litigation from customers and employees, says a recent poll commissioned by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, which owns Legal Newsline, and conducted by Public Opinion Strategies.
The poll found:
-Protecting essential businesses like grocery stores and pharmacies has 87% support from Republicans and 82% from Democrats;
-Protecting restaurants and other non-essential businesses when they are allowed to reopen, except in cases of gross negligence, has 85% support from Republicans and 79% from Democrats;
-Protecting companies from employee lawsuits if they asked sick employees to work at home has 80% support from Republicans and 72% from Democrats;
-Protecting the makers of hand sanitizer and other cleaning supplies has 78% support from Republicans and 73% from Democrats; and
-Protecting companies from lawsuits after the federal government asks them to provide health information about employees has 61% support from Republicans and 63% support from Democrats.
Litigation so far has mostly come against the insurance industry as businesses try to invoke “business interruption” clauses in their policies. But there are examples of personal injury cases too – like a Chicago lawsuit against Walmart and a Tennessee law firm advertising for clients who were made sick during an outbreak at a nursing home.
The American Association for Justice, the national group for trial lawyers, on Tuesday released its own poll, though it asked respondents whether they favor blanket immunity from lawsuits.
Its poll says 64% of voters oppose giving “guaranteed immunity” to companies (72% of Democrats oppose, 56% of Republicans oppose).
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised lawsuit-immunity will be a major point in the next coronavirus stimulus package.
“My red line going forward on this bill is we need to provide protection, litigation protection, for those who have been on the frontline,” McConnell said on “Your World” with Neil Cavuto.
“Hospitals, doctors, nurses. Imagine you are a businessman thinking about reopening, and you've heard that the trial lawyers all over the country are sharpening their pencils getting ready to sue you, claiming that you didn't engage in proper distancing or other issues related to health and safety.
“Look, we can't pass another bill unless we have liability protections. That's the only way we're going to be able to get past this and that is to begin to open up the economy again. We have to have businesses brave enough to open up again and employees brave enough to go back to work. And I'm glad to see that some of the states are beginning to move in the direction of reopening.”
Liability protections for health care providers and workers are on the discussion table in a number of states, and in some form have already been enacted in New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arizona and Arkansas, in addition to New York and North Carolina.
From Legal Newsline: Reach editor John O’Brien at john.obrien@therecordinc.com.