Alt causes to Court Clog—Coronavirus proves

Major catastrophes and downturns can unleash a torrent of lawsuits, and the coronavirus pandemic is no exception. At least 917 federal and state lawsuits have been filed in relation to the pandemic, according to a database run by Hunton Andrews Kurth, an international law firm. That tally is just starting, says Torsten Kracht, a partner running the project. “I can easily foresee litigation directly related to COVID-19 continuing to be filed for the next two, three years at least. It will be litigated for the next decade, likely.” Disasters and downturns often spur litigation — but the pandemic is different The 9/11 attacks spurred cases over issues like health coverage for first responders at Ground Zero and the real estate developer’s insurance policies. A victim’s compensation fund paid out more than $7 billion to survivors and families that agreed not to sue airlines. The Great Recession triggered lawsuits against major financial institutions that allegedly misled investors and regulators. It also set off a wave of bankruptcies and foreclosures. But the COVID-19 pandemic is different for the breadth and scale of legal issues, observers say. The virus has killed more Americans than the Vietnam War, raising a host of public health issues about the workplace and reopening economies. It’s caused more than 30 million people to file for unemployment benefits and triggered a $2.2 trillion stimulus bill to help faltering businesses and households. What’s more, the pandemic is a global event, so the reach goes far beyond one single place. Just in the employment law context, ‘what we are confronting now is really unprecedented in scale, complexity and how heavily it depends on science.’— Joseph Sellers, a partner at Cohen Milstein In employment law alone, “what we are confronting now is really unprecedented in scale, complexity and how heavily it depends on science,” said Joseph Sellers, a partner at the law firm Cohen Milstein who represents plaintiffs in civil rights and employment class actions. Legal liability is becoming a major issue. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says businesses need protection from “the biggest trial-lawyer bonanza in history.” White House National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow also thinks it’s a good idea to confine businesses’ legal exposure. Businesses are making “an opportunistic attempt” to try weakening laws that protect workers and consumers, some consumer advocates say. Here’s a breakdown of the cases already piling up in the courts: Nurses are suing about a lack of personal protective equipment Nurses are some of the “frontline” workers, so it’s not surprising their cases are at the forefront of the legal battle, especially in New York, the outbreak’s American epicenter. For example, the New York State Nurses Association, a union with 42,000 members, alleged one hospital, Montefiore Medical Center, wasn’t providing it with sufficient protective gear — a charge the hospital denies. The union has two other cases pending alleging nurses aren’t getting the protective gear they need. Meanwhile, a nurse is anonymously suing Good Samaritan Hospital in a county north of the city. She alleges she contracted COVID-19, but her bosses refused to get her needed equipment or re-assign her. The nurse said she had no choice but to resign and is pressing for at least $1 million in damages. The nurse’s attorney declined an interview and the hospital did not respond to a request for comment. Retail workers are suing their employers over workplace safety Workplace safety is an issue in the retail industry too. The estate of a Walmart WMT, +1.57% worker who died from COVID-19 said the company failed to protect workers. The dead man, Wando Evans, 51, was healthy before he fell ill, his lawyers said. Walmart officials were “heartbroken” about the incident, the company said in a statement. “While it may be impossible to determine where or how someone contracts the virus, we have taken steps across the country to protect our associates and customers.” The company says safety is a serious matter and it will “respond as appropriate with the court.”