GOP pushing an employer liability shield

A new plan from Senate Republicans to award businesses, schools and universities sweeping exemptions from lawsuits arising from inadequate coronavirus safeguards is putting Republicans and Democrats at loggerheads as Congress reconvenes next week to negotiate another relief package.

The liability proposal, drafted by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and senior Republican John Cornyn of Texas, promises to shield employers when customers and workers are exposed to the coronavirus by moving lawsuits to federal court and limiting legal liability to acts of “gross negligence or intentional misconduct,” according to a draft of the plan obtained by the Associated Press.

Supporters say the plan protects employers who adhere to public health guidelines in good faith. Opponents argue it will permit wrongdoing to go unpunished. It’s up to Congress to resolve the debate.

“Even if businesses and hospitals follow all the relevant guidelines and act in good faith, they could end up fighting a very long and a very expensive lawsuit,” Cornyn said. “They could end up winning that lawsuit, but they could also end up going bankrupt in the process.” In the courts, gross negligence amounts to “reckless disregard” for the safety of others, which is a high standard to meet. Ordinary negligence, by contrast, would occur if a business owner failed to take reasonable precautions to protect people from the threat.

The GOP’s proposed standard would apply retroactively to when the coronavirus began to circulate in December and would extend through at least 2024.

McConnell has said for months that a form of liability shield would be in the next COVID response measure, telling an audience Wednesday in Kentucky that he wouldn’t send the next, and fifth, coronavirus response bill to the floor without it.

The liability shield is just one of the difficult issues confronting lawmakers as they launch into negotiations over another coronavirus bill with competing priorities. Other major battles involve whether to renew a $600-per-week bonus federal unemployment benefit, how much assistance to send state and local governments and whether to indulge President Trump’s wish to cut Social Security payroll taxes.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) firmly opposes the liability plan, pressing instead for regulations to protect healthcare workers.