McConnell Wants to Block Justice for COVID-19 Victims under Guise of Tort Reform
Last week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) revealed to the news media that he intends to extend current immunity protections provided under federal law to those who are likely defendants in personal injury lawsuits brought by Coronavirus victims who have suffered bodily injury or have died from COVID-19. Read “McConnell Dangles Aid to States – With a Catch,” written by Burgess Everett and published by Politico on April 27, 2020.
For details on the recent federal legislation that provides immunity from suit for certain health care providers, read our discussion in “Coronavirus: Limited Immunity from Health Care Liability under Federal PREP Act.”
Specifically, in an interview on Fox News Radio on April 27, 2020, Senator McConnell stated:
“For example, here’s something I just announced today that’s going to be my redline for the next negotiation. We have brave healthcare workers battling this virus, entrepreneurs who will reopen their economy, all of whom deserve, in my view, strong protections from the opportunistic lawsuits that are being planned all over America, all over America.
“The lawyers – trial lawyers are sharpening their pencils to come after healthcare providers and businesses, arguing that somehow the decision they made with regard to reopening adversely affected the health of someone else. So before we start sending additional money down to states and localities, I want to make sure that we protect the people we’ve already sent assistance to, who are going to be set up for an avalanche of lawsuits if we don’t act.”
Favoring Business While Ignoring the Injury Victims and Their Families
McConnell is trying to coattail any federal legislation designed to help support state and local governments who are financially hurting from Coronavirus expenses (federal budget aid) with federal laws that block injured victims from filing lawsuits against those who are legally liable for their injuries involving COVID-19.
Of course, he is not focusing his discussion on the individual victims and their loved ones who are seeking justice under state personal injury laws after there has been a failure in the duty of care and safety owed to them.
Instead, McConnell suggests there are greedy, self-serving lawyers acting in bad faith, unethically and immorally seeking out clients for litigation. His suggestion is offensive and disingenuous.
Serious COVID-19 Injury Due to Failure to Act with Reasonable Care and Safety
For months now, and for the foreseeable future, there will be people who will be exposed to the Coronavirus here in Indiana and Illinois (as well as the rest of the country) who fall ill and suffer serious injury or death as a result.
Many of these Coronavirus injury victims will have suffered or died because of basic failures in following safety regulations designed to protect them. Nurses, truckers, grocery store workers, and others in “essential jobs” may have been forced to work without the proper PPE (personal protective equipment). Customers, clients, patients, and residents may have been exposed to COVID-19 because of a failure to exercise reasonable care to keep them safe from exposure to the Coronavirus.
While it is true that much about COVID-19 is still being discovered, it is also true that much is known about how it is spread and how to keep people safe from harm. Nursing homes are well aware of the dangers facing their residents. Hospitals and clinics likewise understand how their employees and workers need to be protected. Grocery store chains and trucking companies know what needs to be done to keep people safe.
State personal injury and premises liability laws in place in both Indiana and Illinois define the duty of care that must be met by these commercial establishments. See, Coronavirus Lawsuits and COVID19 Legal Claims in Indiana and Illinois: Wrongful Death or Serious Injury.
OSHA has explained that the existing federal regulations that define the duty of care for employers apply during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Read, Coronavirus on the Job: Legal Standards for Employers to Protect Employees from COVID-19.
Reasonableness Standard in State Law Provides Adequate Business Defense
In sum, existing laws already explain to businesses that they must act in a reasonable and prudent manner to keep both workers and customers safe from harm. They have a “duty of care” which if breached and causing damage will result in them being held accountable for their failure. Victims are provided financial help in the form of medical expenses, lost wages, therapy, pain & suffering, and other civil damages in these cases.
The reality is this unprecedented Coronavirus Pandemic means businesses know they may have legal liability for their inept response in protecting their workers and others. And industries are lobbying hard for legislation to protect them financially just as Congress has already done in the earlier PARE Act (as discussed above).
The key here is the reasonableness standard already in place: defendants have to be shown to have acted in an unreasonable manner before they are held liable for a victim’s harm. If the business has acted in a reasonable and prudent manner to protect against Coronavirus exposure, then it has a valid defense.
However, if a business or enterprise has failed to act reasonably because its management dismissed the seriousness of the virus, or preferred to put profits over people and just risk someone getting sick, then that defendant should be held legally responsible to that victim and their loved ones.
Consider, as one example, how the Washington Post exposed how 40+% of the 650 nursing homes with reported Coronavirus victims were cited more than once for federal safety violations designed to protect against the spread of infections. See, “Hundreds of Nursing Homes with Cases of Coronavirus Have Violated Federal Infection-Control Rules in Recent Years,” written by Debbie Cenziper, Joel Jacobs and Shawn Mulcahy and published by the Washington Post on April 17, 2020.
May 4, 2020: Senate Returns to Washington, D.C.
Whether or not the Senate Majority Leader’s statements will result in any actual business immunity legislation being passed is far from clear. There will be much debate over the passage of new federal legislation that offers aid to state and local governments.
What is obvious is this is not a situation where greedy plaintiffs’ lawyers are stirring up the pot to line their pockets. That’s disrespectful and wrong. The truth is that the Coronavirus Pandemic has swept through Indiana, Illinois, and the rest of the nation with a fierce, destructive force.
Victims and their families face hardships caused by medical expenses, health care costs, lost income, and more. They deserve to be able to hold accountable those businesses who preferred to put their own best interests over their legal duties of care and safety.
For more on Coronavirus Injuries, read:
- Coronavirus on the Job: Proving Employee Exposure Claims Against Employer for COVID-19 Injury
- Coronavirus Insurance Claims for Illness: Coverage for COVID-19 Bodily Injury and Claim Denials
- Coronavirus on the Job: Legal Standards for Employers to Protect Employees from COVID-19
- Coronavirus: Truck Driver Dangers of Injury and Accident in Indiana and Illinois
- Employers’ Duty to Protect Workers during Coronavirus Outbreak
- Coronavirus: Nursing Home Liability for COVID-19 Injuries in Illinois and Indiana
If you or a loved one has suffered injury from COVID-19 exposure at work or elsewhere, then you may have a legal claim for justice under the laws of Indiana and Illinois. Please be careful out there!
