Groups urge Congress not to grant COVID-19 liability protection

Groups including the American Association of Justice, which represents trial lawyers, have sent a letter to Congress opposing legislation that would protect businesses from liability related to COVID-19.

The letter, sent to the House and Senate late Tuesday and signed by 60 organizations, led by the Washington-based Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, urges lawmakers to oppose any legislation that would grant businesses “immunity from accountability.”

Granting employers legal immunity would make it less likely that they take the steps necessary to protect workers’ health, the trade groups said in the letter.

It would also “further endanger and disadvantage the health and economic security of people of color, women, and low-income people who are working in essential jobs or returning to the workforce,” the trade groups said.

“Immunity from liability would eliminate these workers’ already limited ability to seek justice in the courts and remove a powerful incentive for businesses to maintain a safe working environment, putting our communities at increased risk of illness and death,” the letter said.

More insurance and risk management news on the coronavirus crisis here.