COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) – As Congress prepares for a debate on whether to shield reopened businesses from coronavirus lawsuits, the results of a South Carolina survey show companies are concerned with liability issues.
The survey, released May 5 by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, polled nearly 4,500 businesses, with seven out of 10 responses coming from small businesses.
“The results of this survey clearly show that our businesses are hurting and need for us to take quick action to get them back on track,” says chamber CEO Ted Pitts.
The bulk of the survey focused on financial issues facing companies, with 90% of respondents saying they have had to lay-off or furlough employees. Pay cuts are a possibility for 40% of those surveyed.
But it also asked about legal liability concerns, like workplace safety (exposing employees to COVID-19) and premises liability (exposing customers).
Of about 2,400 responses, 64% said they were concerned with employee safety litigation and 62% are worried about potential lawsuits from customers.
This survey follows the release of a poll of voters from the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, owner of Legal Newsline, which showed Democrats and Republicans both favor Congress enforcing some sort of immunity from lawsuits for reopened businesses.
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.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, has promised that protection will be a major issue when the next coronavirus stimulus package is debated.
Some states have passed protection measures for health care providers, but those won’t help restaurants, grocery stores and other places of public congregation.
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 by an employee 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 May 5 released its own poll, though it asked respondents whether they favor "guaranteed" immunity from lawsuits.
Its poll says 64% of voters oppose giving guaranteed immunity to companies (72% of Democrats oppose, 56% of Republicans oppose).
Protections for the health care industry have thus far included liability exceptions in cases of gross negligence and reckless conduct.
From Legal Newsline: Reach editor John O’Brien at john.obrien@therecordinc.com.