TortsProf Blog

COVID-19 Suits in 2020

Relatively few suits alleging physical or economic harm due to COVID-19 were filed in 2020:

Lex Machina released its first Torts Litigation Report in November, identifying 173 tort cases related to COVID-19. Most were filed against cruise lines and nursing homes, and as Law.com reports, judges have dismissed many of them.

The largest group of COVID-19 suits were filed by businesses against their insurers.  ABA Journal has the story.

IA: Punies Not Available for Victims of Excessive Force by Law Enforcement Officers

Last Thursday, in a case about excessive force by law enforcement officers, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that there is no vested right to punitive damages and the state legislature may bar them completely, as it did in the Iowa Tort Claims Act.  Alina Rizvi has details at Jurist.

NJ: Supreme Court Accepts Attorney-Client Arbitration Agreements

In the context of a legal malpractice case, the New Jersey Supreme Court accepts arbitration clauses in attorney-client contracts, but requires a full explanation to the client of the advantages and disadvantages.  The case is Delaney v. Sills, and George Conk has commentary at Otherwise.

Rothstein & Irzyk on Employer Liability for "Take-Home" COVID-19

Mark Rothstein and Julia Irzyk have posted to SSRN Employer Liability for "Take-Home" COVID-19.  The abstract provides:

Workplace exposure to SARS-CoV-2 has been a source of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19, especially for “essential workers,” such as those employed in health care and meatpacking. Many family members of these workers also have become infected and died. If the employee’s exposure was the result of the employer’s negligence, the family member or the family member’s estate might be able to recover from the employer using the “take-home” liability theory first developed in asbestos cases. This article discusses the elements of these cases and how they relate to workers’ compensation, OSHA enforcement, and other aspects of workplace safety and health protections.

COVID-19 Suits, Preemption, and Workers' Compensation

At Law.com, Amanda Bronstad covers suits by employees against Tyson Foods.  The defendants in those cases have argued negligence claims are preempted by the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act.  In the cases filed in Iowa, defendants also cited the workers' compensation bar.  Tyson opted out of workers' compensation in Texas, the only jurisdiction in the United States in which that is possible.  Bronstad then discusses preemption as applicable to other industries.  For instance, nursing homes sued for negligence have attempted to argue preemption based on the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act:

At least four federal judges, in New Jersey, Kansas, Pennsylvania and California, have ruled against the nursing homes, granting remand of the cases to state courts.

“The allegations are ‘you didn’t take enough steps to keep us from getting COVID.’ Courts are looking at that, saying that’s not what the PREP Act had in mind,” Robinette said. “Basically, what the PREP Act is talking about is certain drugs, biological products or devices—for instance, once a vaccine has been developed. But the suits are alleging things like your failures to do certain things have led to us getting COVID.”

Sharkey on Holding Amazon Liable As a Seller

Cathy Sharkey has posted to SSRN Holding Amazon Liable As a Seller of Defective Goods:  A Convergence of Cultural and Economic Perspectives.  The abstract provides:

Amazon’s e-commerce business, which offers a platform for third-party vendors, defies conventional categorization for products liability purposes. Professor Marshall Shapo’s conception of “tort law as a cultural mirror” sheds light on how products liability law has evolved so as to hold Amazon liable even as the seismic shift away from brick-and-mortar physical stores to the virtual marketplace has transformed the reasonable expectations of consumers. Holding Amazon liable is likewise supported by the economic perspective embodied in the “cheapest cost avoider” analysis; namely, that Amazon is best situated to take actions to minimize risks and prevent accidents from defective products. This convergence of cultural and economic perspectives and the emergence of a culturally specific norm of efficiency-as-responsibility in the context of the virtual marketplace, signals tort law’s ever moving march forward into the modern era.

PA: Governor Vetoes COVID-19 Immunity Bill

On Monday,  Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf vetoed a bill that would have provided immunity to certain businesses, including schools, from COVID-19 lawsuits.  Governor Wolf got it right, for reasons I explained in an earlier post:

Yale undergraduate Josh Czaczkes, Tom Baker, & John Witt have just finished a really interesting research project.  Using a database run by Baker at Penn, the group determined that 80% of liability policies have coverage for losses for infection by virus.  Only 20 of 100 policies had an exclusion.  Thus, COVID-19 immunity would primarily benefit large insurers and not businesses, many of which are small.  The group uses the finding to oppose immunity legislation.  Their post is at Balkinization. 

Moreover, the early cases are being won by defendants.  See here and here.  Plaintiffs are having trouble proving injury and, especially, causation.  I have spoken to several plaintiffs' lawyers over the last few weeks, and they all say the same thing about COVID-19 cases.  They are very wary of them, and would only take such a case under limited conditions.  Specifically, I have heard from more than one firm that the injury would have to be death before it would be worth considering.  I think immunity is unnecessary. 

ALI Podcast: "MDLs Go Mainstream: Mass Torts Today"

The latest episode of the ALI's podcast, Reasonably Speaking, is "MDLs Go Mainstream:  Mass Torts Today," hosted by Elizabeth Chamblee Burch.

Approximately 90,000 Sexual Abuse Claims Filed Against Boy Scouts of America

The deadline for filing claims against the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in bankruptcy was this week, and nearly 90,000 claims were filed.  That number is significantly higher than expected.  Eventually, a compensation fund will be created for the victims.  The very first case I started working on back in 1996 was on behalf of a sexual abuse victim against BSA and local organizations, and even then it was not a new story.  ABC News has details.

Grey & Orwoll on Tort Immunity in the Pandemic

Betsy Grey & Samantha Orwoll have posted to SSRN Tort Immunity in the Pandemic.  The abstract provides:

A fundamental premise of our common law tort system is that the risk of liability will help deter unsafe behavior. Yet, as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, proposals abound to shield businesses from tort liability. Politicians have even conditioned fiscal-stimulus for our ailing economy on passage of tort liability shields. This essay examines the pros and cons of such shields, and concludes that their questionable benefits do not justify loss of the deterrent value of tort liability. Although businesses would surely prefer to avoid lawsuits, those that act reasonably--even without tort immunity--face little risk of damage judgments and would be hard prey for plaintiff personal-injury lawyers. To be found negligent, businesses would need to flaunt such basic precautions as social distancing, gloves, masks and disinfecting measures. Presumably, we should not encourage such behavior by removing the tort system’s incentives to operate safely. And even if a business arguably could have done more to keep their customers and employees safe, plaintiffs would still have the tall burden of establishing causation--that they caught the disease because of the defendant’s neglect as opposed to other sources. Beyond all that, businesses already enjoy the protection of workers’ compensation laws, and strong defenses like regulatory compliance. On the other side of the equation, creating immunity shields may signal to employees and customers that they return to work or patronize business at their own peril--creating an anxiety that undermines the trust and confidence we want to instill to restart of our economy. Finally, other systems, such as insurance and government compensation funds, can be used to encourage businesses to reopen and stay open.

Concern that Convergence of Flu and COVID Could Boost Med Mal Claims

Because initial symptoms of flu and COVID-19 are similar, some experts are concerned that physicians will mistake the two, leading to an increase in malpractice claims.  Business Insurance has details.

Justice Thomas Signals His Support to Contract Section 230 Immunity

Yesterday Justice Thomas signaled he would like the Supreme Court to take up the issue of the immunity provided by Section 230 (of the Communications Decency Act of 1996).  That section exempts websites from civil liability for most of the content provided by third parties.  Many argue that the scope of the exemption has been expanded beyond the text of the statute by lower court decisions.  The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal on Section 230 from a Ninth Circuit decision, and Justice Thomas used that occasion to remark that in an appropriate case the Court "should consider whether the text of this increasingly important statute aligns with the current state of immunity enjoyed by Internet platforms."  Multichannel News has the story.

OH: Amazon is Not a Supplier for Purposes of Products Liability

Last week, the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled that Amazon is not a supplier for purposes of the Ohio Products Liability Act, and therefore not liable for the death of a teenage boy killed by an overdose of caffeine powder sold on the website.  Marianna Bettman has details at Legally Speaking Ohio.

PA: Appeals Court Holds PLCAA Unconstitutional

On Monday, the Pennsylvania Superior Court held that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) was unconstitutional.  In March 2016, J.R. Gustafson was killed when his 14-year-old friend accidentally shot him with a semi-automatic handgun that he thought was unloaded.  Gustafson's parents sued both the manufacturer of the weapon and the store that sold it.  Both defended themselves by invoking the PLCAA, a federal law passed in 2005 that provides businesses cannot "be liable for the harm caused by those who criminally or unlawfully misuse firearm products or ammunition products that function as designed and intended."  The trial court dismissed the case in January, but the appellate court held that PLCAA violates the Tenth Amendment and principles of federalism.  This is the first court to hold the law is unconstitutional in its entirety.  CNN has the story.  The opinion, thanks to Tim Lytton, is here:  Download Gustafson-opinion (002)

Czaczkes, Baker & Witt: Liability Insurance Coverage is a Reason to Reject COVID-19 Immunity

Yale undergraduate Josh Czaczkes, Tom Baker, & John Witt have just finished a really interesting research project.  Using a database run by Baker at Penn, the group determined that 80% of liability policies have coverage for losses for infection by virus.  Only 20 of 100 policies had an exclusion.  Thus, COVID-19 immunity would primarily benefit large insurers and not businesses, many of which are small.  The group uses the finding to oppose immunity legislation.  Their post is at Balkinization. 

Moreover, the early cases are being won by defendants.  See here and here.  I have spoken to several plaintiffs' lawyers over the last few weeks, and they all say the same thing about COVID-19 cases.  They are very wary of them, and would only take such a case under limited conditions.  Specifically, I have heard from more than one firm that the injury would have to be death before it would be worth considering.  I think immunity is unnecessary. 

COVID-19 Cruise Ship Cases Dismissed for Problems with Causation, Injury

At Law.com, Amanda Bronstad has a piece covering the dismissal, without prejudice, of cases filed by passengers alleging they caught COVID-19 on a cruise ship.  Two different federal judges in the Central District of California dismissed cases without prejudice from passengers alleging they actually caught COVID-19.  An earlier ruling dismissed filings alleging only fear of catching COVID-19.  Both judges focused on causation and injury, though the judges differed a bit on what would count as an injury, at least at the 12(b)(6) stage.  Causation seemed to be the biggest problem for most of the cases, and it is unclear if the plaintiffs will be able to plead sufficient new facts to survive dismissal.  If causation is difficult to establish when on a cruise ship for weeks, it will generally be much harder if allegations are brought against owners of grocery stores, gyms, etc.  It will be interesting to watch as different factual variations appear.

More coverage at ABA Journal.

Legally Speaking Ohio: Invasion of Privacy and Drug Testing

At Legally Speaking Ohio, Marianna Brown Bettman provides a thorough analysis of Lunsford v. Sterilite of Ohio, L.L.C., in which the Supreme Court of Ohio held that at-will employees have no cause of action for invasion of privacy when consenting to an employer-required direct observation method of submitting a urine sample for drug testing.

IL: TikTok Sued for Intrusion Upon Seclusion

The app TikTok has been sued in the Northern District of Illinois for intrusion upon seclusion:

One of the specific allegations against the company’s application is that it collects user’s private draft videos that were never intended for publication…without consent. The videos according to the plaintiff class are then mined by Chinese engineers for biometric identifiers and information. The expectation of privacy in these instances may indeed meet the elements of the Intrusion Upon Seclusion cause of action. As previous case law notes, consent is a defense to Intrusion Upon Seclusion, but only as far as the consent given.

ClearanceJobs has the story.

French on Forum Shopping in COVID-19 Business Interruption Claims

Christopher French has posted to SSRN Forum Shopping COVID-19 Business Interruption Insurance Claims.  The abstract provides:

Insurance disputes are typically governed by state law, and state insurance laws vary considerably, with some states being favorable to policyholders and others being unfavorable. With forum shopping, a plaintiff often has many choices regarding where it can bring a lawsuit, including multiple states in which to bring the case and whether to bring the case in federal or state court. Of the over 900 COVID-19 business interruption insurance lawsuits filed thus far, more than 600 of them have been filed in federal court, with more than 100 filed as class actions. Many of them were also filed in states with insurance laws that are not favorable to policyholders.

Conventional wisdom provides that a plaintiff’s chances of winning are generally much higher in state court than in federal court and that historically federal class actions against insurers have been successful only approximately twenty-five percent of the time. So, why were so many of the COVID-19 business interruption insurance cases filed in federal court in unfavorable states and as class actions when the historical chances of winning are so low in such forums, particularly as class actions?

This Essay provides some possible answers to that question. In doing so, it explores forum shopping considerations in general, the conventional wisdom regarding litigating in federal versus state court, and the empirical data regarding the odds of winning in state versus federal court.

Zettler, Berman & Parasidis on Drug and Vaccine Development and Access

Patricia Zettler, Micah Berman & Efthimios Parasidis have posted to SSRN Drug and Vaccine Development and Access.  The abstract provides:

This Chapter explains how drugs and vaccines for COVID-19 can reach the market in the United States. As is always true, drug and vaccine manufacturers may seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of their products via traditional approval mechanisms and drug manufacturers may offer pre-approval access under the expanded access or right to try pathways. In a public health emergency like COVID-19, an additional mechanism is also available: the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) pathway. This Chapter (1) assesses how FDA has used its EUA authorities for COVID-19 drugs thus far, (2) considers how FDA has balanced the need for robust evidence of safety and effectiveness for COVID-19 pharmaceuticals against the urgent need to speed patients’ access amid the clinical and political realities of the pandemic, and (3) highlights considerations specific to vaccines should FDA be faced with a request to issue an EUA for a COVID-19 vaccine. The Chapter concludes with recommendations for policymakers and regulators at the federal and state levels. The recommendations aim to improve public understanding of the regulatory process for COVID-19 drugs and vaccines, protect scientific decision making from undue political pressure, and ensure that manufacturers develop robust evidence of safety and effectiveness—and ultimately safe and effective COVID-19 countermeasures.

This paper was prepared as part of Assessing Legal Responses to COVID-19, a comprehensive report published by Public Health Law Watch in partnership with the de Beaumont Foundation and the American Public Health Association.