On Nov. 30, Gov. Tom Wolf (D-Pa.) vetoed a controversial bill aimed at extending broad protections to nursing homes, hospitals and other Pennsylvania businesses from certain lawsuits regarding alleged COVID-19 exposure, saying the bill created a potential safety risk, according to www.law360.com.
Wolf said the bill, which passed out of the General Assembly by narrow margins earlier in November, went too far in shielding businesses from claims regarding their response to the pandemic.
“This legislation provides broad, overreaching immunity from civil liability during the current pandemic,” Wolf said in a veto statement. “Shielding entities from liability in such a broad fashion as provided under this bill invites the potential for carelessness and a disregard for public safety.”
House Bill 1737 would have prevented a broad range of businesses from facing civil liability for “actual or alleged exposure to COVID-19” when good faith efforts were taken to comply with public health guidelines. As written, it would have extended protections to nursing homes, hospitals and other health care facilities, child care centers and schools, and other businesses allowed to continue operating through the state of emergency Wolf has declared as a result of the pandemic.
Wolf inked an executive order in May that shielded individual doctors, nurses and other providers from claims related to their treatment of COVID-19 patients, but he faced criticism from business and industry groups for failing to extend similar protections to health care facilities, nursing homes and other entities. Wolf expanded on that order in November, agreeing to extend liability protections to businesses, including restaurant owners and employees, related to their enforcement of the state’s mask mandate.
The provisions vetoed Nov. 30 were added to a bill in the Pennsylvania Senate earlier in November, and Sen. Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne), who serves as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, supported the expanded liability protections for businesses.
“When I talk to struggling business owners and nonprofit organizations, they express fear that one lawsuit could be their death sentence,” Baker said in a statement. “Those fighting to stay open do not need to incur litigation costs and potentially get hit with judgments on top of all the other pressures and stresses afflicting them.”
Only a handful of lawsuits have been filed so far in Pennsylvania regarding allegations related to COVID-19 exposure, including two cases brought against a Pittsburgh-area nursing home.
