With COVID-19-related litigation on the rise against businesses, a new trial consulting study finds that juries could tilt toward plaintiffs due to ongoing safety concerns about the coronavirus.
The overarching impact could infuse more uncertainty into the state’s economic recovery process, Wayne Winegarden, Ph.D., senior fellow in business and economics at the Pacific Research Institute, told the Northern California Record by email.
“Entrepreneurs are looking for relief from regulations, taxes, and the high costs of doing business in the state for their very survival,” Winegarden said. “But they’re facing the opposite from Sacramento – as state government doubles down on enforcement of AB 5’s restriction on independent contractors and imposes very costly COVID-19 workers compensation presumptions on employers.”
The result is businesses large and small struggling to keep their doors open and avoid layoffs.
“With so many companies on the knife’s edge, this survey is the worst news possible for California employers. California has been rated at or near the top of the list of the nation’s ‘Judicial Hellholes’ for good reason – its out-of-balance judicial system imposes huge and unfair costs on employers every year,” Winegarden said.
“Now they face the prospect of having huge judgments assessed against them in COVID-19 cases where it will be practically impossible for them to prove their innocence,” he added. “These massive potential judgments could force many companies into bankruptcy, add to our record state unemployment levels, and prolong a recession that has hit California especially hard.”
The omnipresent nature of the virus has heightened safety concerns to the extent that they could sway the courtroom.
“COVID-19 has impacted every Californian, whether they contracted it or not,” Winegarden said. “On the very day of the trial, jurors will have had to undergo much different procedures when entering the courthouse for jury service as a result of COVID-19. While it is sometimes difficult to set aside our human biases, even when we swear to be fair and impartial jurors, it’s even more difficult when we’re sorting out claims in a global pandemic.”
The defense counsel may gain some traction by stressing the unpredictable progression of the virus and how they tried to contain it.
“While the ever-evolving nature of COVID-19 may make for a more compelling case for employers, this doesn’t mean that it will change the outcome of any cases,” Winegarden said. “However thorough a case they are able to present, it will all be for naught if jurors are biased against the employer going into the case.”
From the outset, crafting a defense will be a daunting task.
“Biased juror pools will make it even more difficult to accurately and fairly determine whether employers are truly liable in these cases,” Winegarden said.
“And it will surely invite more Californians who have contracted COVID-19 to file claims and engage in litigation against their employers,” he added.