COVID Protections

Legislation to protect employers from COVID-19 related lawsuits was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on last Thursday.  S. 147 would provide a safe harbor for small business owners and healthcare providers to protect themselves from lawsuits over customer or employee exposure.  The subcommittee amendments were adopted to clarify that workers' comp would not be impacted, and to change the adherence requirements to require businesses and providers to substantially adhere to COVID precautions, while lowering the threshold of evidence required.  Next week, there may be efforts on the Senate floor to remove these amendments and take the bill back to its original language.