Mitch McConnell calls for liability protections for businesses
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday called for businesses and health care workers to be protected from “opportunistic lawsuits” as companies reopen after the coronavirus lockdown.
In a statement announcing that the Senate will reconvene on May 4, the Kentucky Republican said companies will have to adapt to new business practices when they reopen, and “a massive tangle of federal and state laws” could lead to “years of endless lawsuits.”
The U.S. response to the economic fallout of COVID-19 should not be “exploited to set up the biggest trial lawyer bonanza in history,” Mr. McConnell said.
Health care workers and businesses “deserve strong protections from opportunistic lawsuits. Some such protections were included in the bipartisan CARES Act. We will need to expand and strengthen them,” he said, referring to the coronavirus rescue package, titled the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
President Donald Trump hinted at similar liability protections for businesses during a press briefing on April 20. When asked about liability protections for companies if returning employees become sick, Mr. Trump said, “I’ll give you a legal answer to that when we look it up, but we’re trying to take liability away from these companies. We just don’t want that.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed the idea of protections to businesses in a tweet responding to Mr. McConnell's remarks on Monday.
The New York Democrat said: "Senator McConnell has made it clear that he’s bringing the Senate back to fulfill his 'pre-existing partisan wish-list' of protecting big business from any harm done to the American people."
More insurance and risk management news on the coronavirus crisis here.
