- April 28, 2024
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Attorney Josh Woolsey
Palm Coast-Flagler County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Greg Blose
The Palm Coast-Flagler County Chamber of Commerce held a Zoom call with business owners Wednesday, Aug. 4 to discuss the recent spike in COVID-19 cases and legislation related to businesses’ liability.
“We’re really encouraging folks to make sure they’re protecting themselves, their employees and their businesses,” said Greg Blose, president and CEO of the Palm Coast-Flagler County Chamber.
Attorney Josh Woolsey, Flagler County Emergency Management Director Jonathan Lord and Flagler County Health Administrator Bob Snyder joined Blose in the discussion.
Senate Bill 72 specifies requirements for civil suits based on COVID-19 claims, putting the burden of proof on the plaintiffs making the claims.
The Chamber successfully advocated for the passage of Senate Bill 72, which was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in March and implemented on July 1, Blose said.
The bill specifies requirements for civil suits based on COVID-19 claims, putting the burden of proof on the plaintiffs making the claims.
“It’s a great piece of legislation that shields businesses from being sued for COVID liability,” Blose said.
Snyder noted that 20% of all new cases are stemming from Florida, making it a high-transmission state, and every county is except Glades is considered a high-transmission county.
Lord said the county is doing “tens of times worse” than it was doing a year ago despite vaccines being readily available “because we got comfortable and because of the new Delta variant,” he said.
Woolsey, a plaintiff’s lawyer, said that he’s been talking to circuit judges and none of them have seen a suit filed yet since the new Bill 72 has been enacted.
“There’s a couple of reasons for that,” he said. “There’s been four months that we’ve been live with the statute (since the governor signed it), and there’s some things that lawyers have to do that slows the process down. With a case like this I have to gather their medical records, I have to have a licensed physician look at them and give an opinion under oath that there’s a valid claim.”
Once a lawsuit is filed the plaintiffs have additional hurdles, Woolsey said. The judges are required to evaluate whether the business has made a good faith effort to substantially comply with authoritative or controlling government-issued health standards.
When asked what he would say to a business that claims it does not have to comply with CDC recommendations because they are not mandates, Woolsey said the statute doesn’t include the word “mandatory” before “government-issued health standards.”
“That implies to me that the recommendations also apply,” he said.
Woolsey said all businesses should comply with mandatory requirements, but as for recommendations, businesses should think about their own risk tolerances and talk to their insurance agents and see what would happen if they do get sued.
