'Zero Recourse': Frontline Workers Say Republicans' Proposed Liability Shields Threaten Their Safety

https://time.com/5873388/liability-shields-workers-rights/?fbclid=IwAR2P5TEvjQqtN9jhxCIv55sAec1xVcJIIDu9bPPTCkmdMKS2CTxTkM3WR_4

By Alana Abramson
July 30, 2020 3:31 PM EDT

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It’s a frustrating position to be in, Taylor says. While the airport has provided workers with masks and hand sanitizer, she says management has not been forthcoming when employees test positive. “It alarms me that they don’t feel the need to tell you, ‘You might want to go get tested, you may have been exposed,'” she said. Her frustration increased this week when she learned that Congressional Republicans’ new COVID relief bill includes a proposal that would shield nearly all public and private organizations—including her airport—from legal liability if workers got sick on the job.

“We’re getting $12 an hour. We have no sick days,” Taylor says. “For them to be concerned about the liability of employers and them not being sued versus the employees who have been consistently showing for work and providing a service? I’m very disappointed.”

The Republicans’ 65-page proposal, introduced by Texas Sen. John Cornyn, and backed by the White House, would shield all corporations, schools, healthcare organizations, non-profits and religious institutions from most COVID-19-related lawsuits. Under the proposed language, corporations and organizations that are following any form of public health guidelines could not be held liable if a worker contracted COVID-19 on the job. If the legislation passes as it’s written, a worker who wants to sue for a coronavirus-related death or injury must prove that the organization in question engaged in “willful misconduct or gross negligence.” These terms would retroactively apply from December 2019 through October 2024.


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“It would essentially make it impossible to sue for a COVID-related injury,” says David Vladeck, a law professor at Georgetown University who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in May.

“The goal here is to completely insulate businesses, schools, universities, anyone who is a service provider from any immunity at all. It sends a signal to the American people [that] we don’t care about your health,” he added. “If you get hurt from someone else you have no recourse. Zero recourse.”

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