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Michigan House votes to shield employers from virus lawsuits

Immunity wouldn't apply if an employer willfully disregarded regulations.

Credit: AP

FILE - This Dec. 12, 2012, file photo shows the state capitol building in Lansing, Mich. Michigan's tax revenues this fiscal year will plummet between $3.1 billion and $3.6 billion below prior estimates due to the coronavirus pandemic, economists said Thursday, May 14, 2020, and are projected to fall billions of dollars short in the next budget year, too. The numbers were released ahead of a Friday meeting at which nonpartisan legislative experts and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration will try to get a handle on the budget outlook two months after the crisis hit the state. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

LANSING, Mich. — A divided Michigan House has voted to shield health providers and businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits filed by patients, employees or customers, advancing bills that majority Republicans say would give businesses more comfort to reopen and block frivolous complaints.

Opponents counter that the measures would make it too tough for negligence victims to sue. Many Democrats voted against the legislation, which was sent to the GOP-led Senate.

It would protect employers from liability if a worker is exposed to he coronavirus during Michigan’s emergency despite the employer having substantially complied with health rules.

Immunity wouldn't apply if an employer willfully disregarded regulations.

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