As American business and offices around the nation reopen after weeks of shutdown orders due to the coronavirus battle, they are facing a potential liability crisis from workers willing to sue if they catch COVID-19 after being called back, no matter how well they clean workplaces and manage the return.
The warning was revealed in a new survey that showed 1 in 3 employees were ready to sue, including those who signed a liability waiver clearing employers of blame before returning.
The latest Back-to-Normal Barometer found that 36% of workers have a high probability of suing if they catch the virus in the first seven months of returning to work.
The study from the partnership of Engagious, Sports and Leisure Research Group, and ROKK Solutions also said that 26% “would be very likely to take legal action” even after signing an employer release from liability.
Those with the highest likelihood of suing were young, liberal men in the Northeast.
The polling partners were surprised at the potential for legal action from employees.
“As a small business co-owner myself, I was stunned by these numbers,” said Rich Thau, president of Engagious, in releasing the results.
And John Last, president of Sports and Leisure Research Group, said, “The entire liability issue may become another unfortunate, but critical residue left by the pandemic.
The May 20 survey asked 504 employed voters use a 1-10, low to high, range in answering three questions.
The first question asked, “Imagine you had returned to work on the first of the month, and you found out on the seventh of the month one of your co-workers had COVID-19. A few days later, you came down with the illness yourself. On a scale from 1-10, how likely would you be to take legal action against your employer?”
Some 36% responded in a range of 8-10, “meaning they would be very likely to take legal action,” said the analysis shared with Secrets. It was higher in some groups, including 44% of males, 40% of those under 35, 42% of those who consider themselves liberal, 42% of those from the Northeast.
The second question asked, “Imagine the same scenario as above, but you were confident that your employer closely followed every protocol to sanitize the premises, maintain social distancing, require face masks, and conduct COVID-19 testing of all employees. In that situation on a scale from 1-10, how likely would you be to take legal action against your employer?”
Here, 26% indicated they would be very likely to take legal action. Some groups indicated a higher likelihood to sue, including 40% of men, 27% of those under 35, 29% of liberals, and 34% Northeasterners.
The last question asked about signing a liability release. “Imagine the same scenario as above, but you signed a release before returning to work, holding your employer harmless if you came down with COVID-19. In that situation, on a scale from 1-10, how likely would you be to take legal action against your employer?”
Again, 26% said they would take legal action. And it was also higher among the same groups, 35% of men, 27% of younger working voters, 29% of liberals, and 32% of those in the Northeast.
The results are a wake-up call for businesses and workplaces around the nation as sometimes uneasy workers return to their desks, offices, and assembly lines, said ROKK Partner Ron Bonjean. He said it should be used by industry to “make strategic business decisions to navigate the difficult terrain ahead to get back to normal.”
