Bill to protect Indiana businesses, schools, health care facilities from COVID-19 liability moves ahead

(The Center Square) – Indiana moved a step closer Thursday to protecting businesses, schools and health care entities from liability related to COVID-19.

The Indiana House Judiciary Committee voted to advance House Bill 1002, sponsored by Re. Chris Jeter, R-Fishers, to the full House. The legislation, if passed and signed into law, would provide temporary immunity to companies from lawsuits alleging someone was exposed to, or contracted, COVID-19 at the business or where a service was provided.

“Businesses have been struggling throughout this pandemic, and the last thing they need is to get hit with a frivolous lawsuit that could deepen their financial struggles,” Jeter said. “We must support Hoosier employers as they lead Indiana’s economic comeback.”

The committee addressed earlier concerns from Indiana lawyers, who warned far-reaching immunity could create unintended consequences and would include preventing people from suing a nursing home or hospital that lies, resulting in injury or death.

“The fact that this bill requires gross negligence to avoid the immunity that they would be given is not going to help those families’ members who have lost loved ones due to negligent care in a nursing home,” Indianapolis lawyer Kathy Farinas told the Indiana Senate Judiciary Committee in testimony on Jan. 6.

She referred specifically to a case in north central Indiana, in Marshall County, where a woman needing rehabilitation after an operation chose a nursing home after its staff said there were no COVID cases in the facility, when in fact there were.

An amendment passed added intentional misrepresentation to willful and wanton conduct and gross negligence to things not covered by liability protection. It also clarifies EMS treatment and protects hospitals from a delay in medical treatment that happened when the state ordered non-emergency surgeries to stop.

Jeter said a recent survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses showed 55% of Indiana businesses considered the possibility of pandemic-related legal action a concern.

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