WUSF – Florida Justice Reform Institute

House Panel Backs COVID-19 Legal Shield For Florida Businesses

February 04, 2021 08:48 AM

State Rep. Lawrence McClure of Dover Florida House of Representatives (2018)

The Republican-controlled Legislature continues to fast-track a proposal that would shield Florida businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits, positioning the measure to be among the first bills passed after the 2021 session starts next month.

Members of the House Pandemics & Public Emergencies Committee voted 11-6 Wednesday to advance the House version of the bill (HB 7), filed by Rep. Lawrence McClure, R-Dover.

“It’s a one-in-100-year pandemic,” McClure told the committee in explaining why he thinks the legislation is needed.

The measure, which has broad support from business organizations, would make it harder to file coronavirus-related lawsuits against businesses and to win such lawsuits.

Republicans, who comprise the majority of committee members, beat back attempts Wednesday to change the proposal. Rep. Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, filed an amendment that would have altered part of the bill that would require state-licensed physicians to submit affidavits saying that plaintiffs’ deaths or injuries were a result of “acts or omissions” by defendants.

Driskell’s proposed amendment would have changed that to requiring a “medical expert” to file an affidavit confirming that the person was infected with COVID-19 during the relevant time period. Driskell argued a physician couldn’t make the determination required in the bill without having additional information that would become available through what is known as discovery, a process when attorneys seek documents or information ahead of trials.

Florida Justice Reform Institute President William Large, however, contended the requirement in the proposed bill was similar to one already in place in medical malpractice cases.

“If it was done in medical malpractice, it can be done in cases like this,” said Large, whose business-backed group lobbies on issues aimed at limiting lawsuits.

Driskel’s amendment failed in an 11-6 party-line vote.

The legislative session will start March 2, and Replublcan leaders have made lawsuit protections for businesses a top priority.

The bill is slated next to be considered by the House Judiciary Committee and then could be ready to go to the full House.

The Senate version (SB 72), filed by Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and is headed to the Commerce and Tourism Committee.

https://wusf.org/house-panel-backs-covid-19-legal-shield-for-florida-businesses/

Governor Backs Liability Protections Amid Pandemic

Health News Florida | By Christine Sexton – News Service of Florida
Published September 23, 2020 at 10:59 AM EDT

THE FLORIDA CHANNEL
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ remarks were welcomed by business groups that have been pushing him to provide lawsuit protections during the pandemic.

The comments marked the first time DeSantis has publicly supported limiting lawsuits for businesses grappling with COVID-19.

Saying that fear of lawsuits is holding back the economy, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday said he supports placing limits on coronavirus-related litigation and is willing to consider such a bill during a potential special legislative session in November.

The comments marked the first time DeSantis has publicly supported limiting lawsuits for Florida businesses that are grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic.

DeSantis said the Legislature could consider a bill to give liability protections to “run-of-the-mill businesses” during a session that also could involve his plan to crack down on disorderly protesters. DeSantis unveiled the plan about protesters Monday and suggested Tuesday that a special session could be held when lawmakers return to Tallahassee for a Nov. 17 post-election organization session.

“There is a lot of concern about liability,” DeSantis said. “I believe it holds the economy back.”

The governor did not clearly explain what types of protections he would support, talking in sentence fragments when discussing the issues with reporters.

““If you just have a store and someone … you cannot be held liable … first of all, how would you even prove someone was …. so we’ve never done that with any other type of virus where you could be sued,” DeSantis said.

The governor said “there’s some stuff going on that’s a little different than run-of-the-mill business” that wouldn’t qualify for protections and mentioned clinical laboratories.

Attempts to limit lawsuits – an issue commonly known as tort reform – often spur fierce political battles in Tallahassee, with plaintiffs’ attorneys squaring off against business and health care groups. Opponents of such limits generally contend that they penalize people who are injured because of the actions of businesses or health-care providers.

DeSantis’ remarks were welcomed by business groups that have been pushing the governor to provide lawsuit protections during the pandemic. Businesses across the state closed down or scaled back in March and April to try to prevent the spread of COVID-19, with reopening efforts gradually starting in May.

“This is the first time I have heard the governor publicly support this, but I think he supports getting the economy open and getting everyone back to work,” said William Large, president of the Florida Justice Reform Institute, a business-backed group that lobbies on liability issues. “He’s a trailblazer in this respect. He is leading the way on the need to protect businesses from difficult causation lawsuits about how COVID-19 was transmitted. Businesses are in fear that if they open up they are going to be sued.”

Bill Herrle, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business in Florida, also praised DeSantis.

“Business owners have been thrust into the role of being a public health officer. Every day they run their business they need to make decisions about whether Joe can come into work because he says that he’s not feeling well. Should we send Joe home?” said Herrle, whose group is made up of small businesses. “Or Joe comes in and says, ‘My wife, Mary, tested positive.’ So do we send Joe home? So it’s all those hundreds of day-to-day decisions. It is, but it’s not, alone, just the concern for exposure to liability for having caused someone to contract COVID. It’s all the hundreds of decisions we make that are being driven by COVID as well. So we are very happy to see him do this.”

DeSantis said he thought the liability issue would be settled by the federal government as part of a COVID-19 relief package. But Congress has been bogged down and unable to reach a deal on new legislation.

“The grand bargain was supposed to be liability protection for business and then aid to states,” DeSantis said. “The Dems wanted aid to states, and the Republicans wanted liability. But that hasn’t happened.”

Following DeSantis’ remarks, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis late Tuesday issued a statement outlining what he identified as his three guiding principles for liability protections.

https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/health-news-florida/2020-09-23/governor-backs-liability-protections-amid-pandemic

Florida Justice Reform Institute

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