U.S. business fears never ending liability from 'take-home' COVID-19 lawsuits
By
(Reuters) - As COVID-19 cases surge in
The
See's employed his wife,
The ruling is the first by an appeals court to allow a novel "take-home" COVID-19 lawsuit, which seek damages from a business over allegations of violating safety protocols and setting off a chain of infections beyond the company's premises.
See's, which did not respond to a request for comment, could appeal to
The See's ruling is only binding in
Business groups warned in court papers filed before the See's decision that such a ruling could prompt lawsuits by an infected employee's family and friends, and anyone infected by that circle of people.
The groups called it a "never-ending chain" of liability.
To counter COVID-19 lawsuits, including take-home cases, business interests have persuaded at least 30 states to adopt laws that make it difficult to bring them, often by requiring plaintiffs to show gross negligence.
"The appellate court's ruling could open up
Hours after the decision, a
There have been at least 23 take-home COVID-19 lawsuits across
The lawsuits generally allege negligence toward COVID-19 protocols: employees were packed into work vans, symptomatic workers were kept in company dorms or infected people weren't screened before entering a worksite. They seek damages on behalf of employees' children and spouses who wound up on ventilators or even died of the disease.
At least six of the lawsuits have been dismissed including against Southwest Airlines Co and six, including two against McDonald's Corp, appear to have resulted in a private settlement, said
The cases are not limited to employees. Royal Caribbean's (RCL) Celebrity Cruise line was sued in federal court in
"Until you get a jury verdict, we won't know one way or other if there will be an explosion of cases," said Jones.
The See's ruling helped to resolve an initial question that has hung over take-home COVID-19 cases by finding that employers aren't shielded from lawsuits by workers' compensation. The system provides quick payments without the need to prove fault for workplace injuries and in return it blocks lawsuits.
The California Court of Appeal,
The Ek family must still convince a judge that See's owed a duty to family and acquaintances of employees. Plaintiffs have failed to establish that in cases that were dismissed against Southwest Airlines, an
To ultimately prevail, plaintiffs must also show that there is a link between the workplace and the case of take-home COVID-19.
"You would have to have a situation where an employee came to and from work and neither the employee nor anyone else in the family/household went anywhere else," said
(Reporting by