Ways Businesses Can Avoid Getting Sued For Covid-19 Liability

Coronavirus and quarantine protocols are still two of the biggest topics on everyone’s minds. For businesses in particular, there may be some concerns about Covid-19 fears may end with a lawsuit for inadvertently getting someone infected with the disease. While it’s true that one such lawsuit, involving Grand Princess Cruise Line, has been dismissed, that doesn’t mean that every such lawsuit will be. Public sentiment seems to be in favor of being able to sue businesses for Covid-19 infections in cases where it’s provable that they were acting in an irresponsible manner.

Experts continue to debate the pros and cons of potentially shielding businesses from liability, so it’s best, if you’re a business owner, to get yourself up to speed on the risks and know where things stand. Much like navigating the most dangerous roads in California for accidents, mitigating risks takes both planning and forethought.

Risk In The Age Of Coronavirus

Part of what makes navigating the post-Coronavirus world so difficult for businesses is the fact that their duties and obligations are seemingly up in the air. While states ponder timetables for reopening, there aren’t rules across the board for whether or not those same businesses bear a responsibility to eliminate the virus from their establishments in an effort to protect the individuals who frequent the premises.

While it’s true that anyone going out into public during the pandemic does so while assuming a certain amount of risk, it’s also true that in the face of a known danger like Covid-19, businesses can’t exactly sit on their hands and make no effort to provide a safer environment for not only their employees but also their patrons. 

Tempering The Risks Of Lawsuits

In spite of unclear guidelines, it’s in the best interest of businesses to prioritize health and safety, even if for no other reason than to protect their own staff and mitigate the risk of being sued. 

True, health advice from authorities has also been conflicting or unclear in some cases, but there are some steps businesses can take that should put them ahead of the curb. 

These include allowing for procedures like contact-less deliveries of goods, limited exposure to other individuals at brick-and-mortar locations, and ample safety warnings about the risks of transmission.

With these, and other sensible alternatives in place, businesses can then demonstrate, in the event of a lawsuit, that they attempted to make some reasonable accommodations for those worried about Coronavirus infection. The ball, then, would be in the court of the allegedly exposed to show why they didn’t make use of these services to avoid infection.