COVID-19 related Lawsuits in US

COVID-19 related Lawsuits in US

Operations of businesses and establishments were reopened simutaneously last year in the US, though people were not confident enough to go so because of the brimming cases of COVID-19 and were afraid to make contact with the said virus. In this year, after vaccines came out and the ordinance of vaccination, the number of people who's confident to go out and do human activities has surged, like going to parks and malls for leisure and opening up their businesses. With the vaccine given, it is believed that people who have receive the complete dose are immune to the first strain of COVID, though there are exemptions -- the newest strains which has the ability to penetrate through the recently developed vaccines that causes an consistent increase of cases these days. Proportional with the numbers of these cases are the lawsuits against the businesses and establishments from their customers who was infected with the said virus, pertaining that they were infected while inside the building because of their "poor management" and "safety measures and protocol" where is not true and valid all the time making it unfair for the business owners. 

In a legislative mix up last year, late 2020 until early 2021, 30 states including Ohio, have formulated the liability protections for the businesses and establishments owners that is meant to protect owners from COVID-19 related lawsuits. The law was implemented as an approach to the ongoing and ongoing possibilities of lawsuits and claims that the establishments' negligence may cause the workers', clients', customers' exposure to the fast-spreading deadly disease. According to Environmental Protection Agency US (EPA), particles of respiratory fluid from an infected person can circulate throughout an entire indoor space and can remain airborne for hours in some cases as it can linger in the air even after the infected person left the room. 

To focus on the said law, some notable person involved in the legal field said that there are some flaws of the law. Some said that it prevents employees to exercise their rights given and implemented by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or from some sort of universal rules such as claiming one's workers' compensation pay from getting sick, not necessarily COVID-19. Identification of the source or location of where a person may be firstly infected is hard to pinpoint as well even with contact tracing method and would be unfair for business owners to simply sue them, some defendants say. An attorney from a law firm as well said that it is an implication of discouragement for plaintiffs to bring their lawsuits and claims to a call off because of this liability shield. 

A lawfirm attorney's added their findings from their study that out of 252 COVID-19 legal suits that were filed in the 2021 shows that 200 of them were filed by workers and just 52 from nonemployees who both claims acquired the virus in an establishment or a businessplace. 

Some states who who agreed to Lawsuit Shield 

• Ohio 
• Oklahoma 
• Arizona
• Wyoming
• Utah
• Indiana 

Though same from other laws in the US, it varies from state to state but has one similar goal -- to protect any form of businesses from lawsuits and claims that tries to convey businesses that they are liable for what happened to its clients, customers, and employees. And apparently, clear negligence, deliberate miscoduct and maltreatment, and evident failure to abide public health measures and regulations are exemption. If ever your are in a situation where you want to file a complaint and don't know where to start, you can call Ryan LLP, a lawfirm who professionally represents your claim and help you gather edges for you case and gives you the optimal advice that one needs to have in times of a legal litigation.