COVID-19 Liability for Businesses
Are business owners liable to employees or customers who get COVID-19, also known as the novel coronavirus, if the business was not complying with government requirements or best safety practices? The short answer is yes. Every state has different rules, but the general rule is that a business can be held liable for physical harm to customers if it “(i) knows of, or by the exercise of reasonable care would discover, a dangerous condition present in the business premises, and should realize that it involves an unreasonable risk of harm to those patrons; (ii) should expect that the patrons will not discover or realize the danger, or fail to protect themselves against it; and (iii) fails to exercise reasonable care to protect its patrons against the danger” (See Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 343). With widespread information on coronavirus available for access by the public, businesses would know the danger of COVID-19, which disproportionately affects vulnerable populations like the elderly and immunocompromised. Some patrons may not know the severity of the virus or would not do things to prevent the spread like wear a mask, socially distance, or wash their hands unless prompted. With all the information available on COVID-19, how to slow the spread, and local rules on how businesses can open safely, businesses cannot claim that they were ignorant of how to protect customers. Therefore, businesses could be held liable if it was proven that they did not provide things like hand sanitizer stations, recommending or requiring customers to wear masks, and not complying with any state rules about limited occupancy to allow for social distancing. However, as mentioned before, every state is different, so it would depend on the state’s rules regarding how liability would be determined.
Even businesses that take precautions against the spread of coronavirus are not completely
free from the possibility of lawsuits. Sometimes there are cases where lawyers may threaten businesses to give their clients a certain amount of money or they will sue. Fighting a lawsuit can be expensive even if you win, so most of the time, the business will just decide to write the check. Since coronavirus is invisible, a lawyer could enact a lawsuit anywhere claiming that their client contracted COVID-19 while patronizing that business, making this type of case all the more commonplace. However, if a business does not take any precautions, this would make them even more likely to face lawsuits.
For example, there is a well-known case regarding COVID-19 liability called Archer et al. v. Carnival Corporation et al., 3:20-cv-02381 (N.D. Cal.). In this case, the plaintiffs were passengers on the Grand Princess cruise from San Francisco to Hawaii that left on February 21, 2020. Before this cruise, the Grand Princess had a cruise on February 11-21 between San Francisco and Mexico. On February 19, at least one passenger complained of COVID-19 symptoms. The plaintiffs said that even though cruise ships are places where the transmission rate of COVID-19 is high, the companies did not take the proper precautions to keep passengers safe, like putting the infected passengers in quarantine, screening passengers and staff, and taking measures like disinfecting and encouraging social distancing. Also, at least two other passengers had COVID-19 symptoms during the trip. Furthermore, since there were no safety precautions taken, about 62 passengers and 1,000 staff members were exposed to these individuals and were allowed to stay on the trip after Mexico and continue to Hawaii, allowing more passengers to become infected. As of April 8, 2020, 21 passengers on the Grand Princess have contracted coronavirus, and two have died. The plaintiffs are seeking to receive compensation for themselves and other passengers for illness and emotional pain and suffering caused by the defendant, exposing them to this virus.
