Amid stalled negotiations over a new COVID-19 relief bill, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry is pressing federal lawmakers to provide coronavirus legal liability protections to businesses and health care professionals.
LABI President Stephen Waguespack has sent letters to Louisiana’s U.S. senators, Republicans Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, expressing business owners’ support for the COVID-19 legal protections contained in legislation proposed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“As we’ve spoken with our member companies all across the state, the No. 1 concern that we consistently hear about is liability protections,” Waguespack said in an email to the Louisiana Record. “As businesses are struggling to keep their doors open in this economy, the last thing that they should be worried about is a frivolous lawsuit.”
The Louisiana congressional delegation has worked in partnership with the state’s business owners, he said, adding that LABI has confidence that the lawmakers will address fears of a wave of COVID-19-related lawsuits as the economy reopens.
Waguespack dismissed a recent analysis from the American Association of Justice (AAJ), which represents trial attorneys, that found less than 5 percent of coronavirus-related lawsuits involved personal injury claims filed by patients, consumers and employees against medical professionals and businesses. The study was based on an examination of law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth’s national database of more than 3,100 coronavirus-related complaints filed since the pandemic began.
The AAJ contends that McConnell’s proposed legislation would undermine the rights of workers and consumers with COVID-19 health issues. But LABI reports that liability concerns are a major concern among businesses of all sizes across Louisiana.
“Look no further than the fact that on the state level, we saw an overwhelming bipartisan majority come together in the legislature to pass multiple COVID-19 liability bills with virtually no opposition,” Waguespack said. “If you’re a small business owner, you’re not concerned about the fraction of lawsuits in a study, you’re worried about being preyed upon by an overzealous trial lawyer with litigation that could permanently close your doors.”
LABI has also endorsed the Get America Back to Work Act of 2020, a bipartisan bill authored by Louisiana Rep. Garret Graves (R-Baton Rouge), which would provide federal liability protections to essential businesses, health care professionals and others who worked to fight the spread of the virus in communities around the nation.
In addition, federal assistance will also likely be needed to keep the state’s unemployment compensation trust fund solvent as it continues to deal with a massive number of claims resulting from the pandemic, Waguespack said.