Liability shield for businesses emerges as new fight over reopening – By Alex Gangitano and John Kruzel (The Hill) / April 30 2020
The business community is pressuring the White House and Congress to shield companies from lawsuits as they seek to reopen, setting up a politically charged battle as coronavirus restrictions around the country begin to ease.
As Congress considers more legislation to jolt the economy back to life, Democrats, labor unions and trial attorneys have voiced fierce opposition to a liability shield for employers. But top Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration appear eager to extend businesses of all sizes a layer of legal protection from any coronavirus-related litigation.
The debate over liability protections has quickly emerged as a new sticking point as Congress weighs another round of coronavirus relief aid. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said the GOP-controlled Senate won’t pass a bill providing more assistance to state and local governments if it doesn’t include those legal protections.
“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,” McConnell said this week on Fox News.
His remarks came on the heels of similar comments from Larry Kudlow, President Trump’s top economic adviser.
“You’ve got to give the businesses some confidence here that if something happens, and it may not be their fault — the disease is an infectious disease — if something happens, you can’t take them out of business,” Kudlow said on CNBC.
Continue to article: https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/495288-liability-shield-businesses-new-fight-reopening
