The Legal Blog

Being a business owner during a pandemic is overwhelming.

To open or not to open in person – that is the question.
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The legal “what ifs” create such stress.
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As you prepare to conduct in-person business, your list of worries grow and grow.
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You worry that you’re complying with all the health guidelines.
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You worry that someone will get sick.
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You worry that someone will accuse you of causing their illness.
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𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐝.
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This Happened to One of My Clients Early On..

One of her students was convinced she contracted the virus at her business.
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As my client said: “We were not sick, no one else in her class we followed up with was sick, we took all known precautions at the time but as humans, we can not guarantee … “
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Although the student never sued; and did continue her classes online, the accusation alone created a series of legal “what ifs” that could have ended in a much different result.

What About State Laws?

Some states are trying to help. A few have even passed legislation that will grant a liability shield to businesses for claims related to virus exposure or infection.
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𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬.

Florida, for example, is considering legislation right now to protect defendants if a court finds they made a good-faith effort to follow virus protections.

So What’s A Business Owner to Do?

Protecting your business from health-related legal accusations starts with your customer contracts.
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𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 – 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬.
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Be sure that each person coming on your premises or meeting with you in person agrees to a waiver for any real or perceived onsite illness.
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Be sure each person agrees that you are not responsible for any illness relating to the in person/on premises interaction.

𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩.

Want to learn more? Contact me today!