Giving businesses immunity from COVID liability would disrespect Florida’s healthcare workers | Opinion
For the past 35 years, I’ve worked at a leading public hospital in Florida that serves thousands of patients a day. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, our hospital has been at the epicenter of the crisis in the state. More than 500 employees have contracted COVID-19 there, and at least three have died. Even though the vaccine has been distributed to many front-line healthcare workers, we are not at the end of this health crisis. The caseload is still soaring across the state, as we’ve seen record cases and deaths in the weeks following the holiday season.
That’s why I was shocked to hear that Florida’s elected leaders are considering giving blanket immunity to businesses and, potentially, even health providers and nursing homes from COVID-19 litigation. What kind of message does it send if bad actors cannot be held accountable for knowingly putting Floridians in harm’s way? It’s a gift to big businesses acting irresponsibly during this public-health crisis and a slap in the face to those of us on the front lines.
It is offensive that lawmakers are thinking not about making front-line workers’ jobs easier and safer, or about finding ways to speed up vaccine distribution, but concentrating instead on how to let the most well-funded and well-connected off the hook for intentionally doing the wrong thing. It’s even more offensive for lawmakers to claim this legislation shielding reckless and irresponsible companies from accountability somehow protects front line employees.
In fact, the bill would reward businesses and providers who were careless during the pandemic and discourage employers from being diligent in protecting their patients, customers and employees. Under the bill, any successful COVID claim must show “gross negligence or intentional misconduct,” which is the highest standard of negligence and toughest to prove. It gives complete immunity if government-mandated protective gear is not readily available.
Part of handling a public-health emergency like the one we’ve been embroiled in for almost a year is helping those who help others — and also holding businesses and providers accountable when they knowingly ignore public-safety requirements that can lead to folks getting sick or dying.
It is disrespectful to the thousands of nurses on the front lines. They are working every day to save lives and provide the best care for our patients. Yet some lawmakers would give free rein to negligent businesses that are knowingly putting the health of their workers or customers at risk. This sends a dangerous message and undermines the importance of continued social distancing, mask wearing and handwashing needed to save lives. The more we ignore these public-safety precautions, the more cases of COVID-19 will rise and the more patients will flood intensive-care units.
In their comments, the lawmakers’ rationale for the immunity legislation is that opening the door for COVID-19 liability might lead to a rash of frivolous lawsuits by unscrupulous lawyers. But we haven’t seen any evidence of a flood of lawsuits, in part because such cases already have an extremely high burden of proof.
This legislation is seeking to solve a problem that doesn’t exist and will cause physical harm to our communities.
The pandemic is not over. The last thing we should be doing is giving a free pass to any who might make a bad situation even worse. I hope our elected representatives think twice about rewarding bad behavior and setting a poor example for the whole state.
Martha Baker is the founding nurse manager of the Trauma Intensive Care Unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital and president of SEIU Healthcare Florida Local 1991, which represents 5,000 nurses, doctors and healthcare professionals at Jackson Health System.