UP Gazette

Michigan Rep. Greg Markkanen (R-Hancock) warned on the Michigan House Republicans website that current laws do not go far enough in protecting business owners against frivolous lawsuits launched by bad actors trying to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Some are claiming that our current laws already shield people who follow all of the rules, that they can prove their case in court,” Markkanen wrote in his column. “The fact is that COVID-19 has created an unprecedented situation, and our current laws do not do enough to protect employers and employees who have done nothing wrong from those who are looking to turn the pandemic into their own financial gain."  

Markkanen said business owners who have struggled to remain afloat during the pandemic are beginning to reopen and have to contend with product supply shortages, fewer customers and diminished profit margins. He added that, at this moment of vulnerability, all it would take is a dishonest lawsuit to force a small business owner into bankruptcy.

Rep. Greg Markkanen | Michigan House Republicans

“Even if they haven’t done anything wrong,” he added.

Two bills recently passed by the House, HB 6030-32 and HB 6101, mandate that business owners cannot be held liable for lawsuits related to the pandemic if they have taken reasonable precautions as outlined by health officials.

The legislation would also prohibit an employer from seeking punitive revenge on an employee who is absent from work because of COVID illness.

Both bills now proceed to the Michigan Senate for consideration.

Markkanen said the pandemic has resulted in a situation in which existing laws on the books can't always be applied.

“An opportunistic attorney can easily pressure someone to settle -- regardless of whether they have neglected the rules -- by bringing a class-action lawsuit or a flood of individual claims,” he wrote on the Michigan House Republicans website.

Markkanen indicated that for business owners to reopen, employees to be welcomed back on the job and the economy to recover, employers must be protected from unscrupulous opportunists.