HARRISBURG – With a growing number of lawsuits being filed against businesses statewide as the coronavirus pandemic continues, voices in the capital grow louder for Gov. Tom Wolf and the General Assembly to institute more broad-based liability protections for companies.
Examples of such recent lawsuits filed by plaintiff attorneys have been against grocery stores and amusement parks, and centered on their mandatory policies of customers wearing a mask while on the premises in questions.
For instance, Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, Sandcastle Water Park in West Homestead and Idlewild Park in Ligonier, are now facing legal action from the parents of three autistic children and an adult with a diagnosed case of anxiety and respiratory issues, who all argue pre-existing medical conditions prevent them or their children from wearing masks.
The litigation states it is the current policy of the amusement parks to require everyone who visits to wear a mask with no exceptions, not even for medical conditions.
Plaintiffs Janine Wood of Bolivar, Jackie Webber of Kennedy, Lisa Mazzoni of Irwin and Ryan Walsh of Verona – along with their counsel, Thomas B. Anderson of Thomson Rhodes & Cowie in Pittsburgh – believe that mandatory mask policy violates not just state guidelines provided by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
Wood, Webber and Mazzoni all have children diagnosed with autism, Wood has a respiratory disorder connected to physical and mental conditions, Mazzoni suffers from muscular dystrophy and Walsh also has a confirmed diagnosis for anxiety and respiratory problems.
The suits say the parks violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it denied each the plaintiffs and their children entry, though the plaintiffs had season passes to the various parks and the parks themselves provided special passes to two of the plaintiffs’ autistic children.
The amusement parks in question have put other precautions in place, like managing visitor capacity and taking visitors’ temperatures at entrances. Anyone who presents with a temperature of 100.4°F or higher or outward coronavirus symptoms will not be admitted, and visitors must register for their park visit after buying a ticket.
Anderson also serves as plaintiff counsel for nearly three dozen individuals who brought similar lawsuits against the Giant Eagle grocery store chain for its mandatory mask-wearing policy – one which is currently not in place in the nearby states of Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia, and which counsel called “illegal and unjustifiable.”
The suits seek a preliminary injunction that prohibits Giant Eagle from excluding customers with disabilities that prevent them from wearing masks to shop at Giant Eagle stores in the same manner as non-disabled customers, and for the store to permit those who physically cannot wear masks to shop inside its stores, according to state guidelines from Dr. Rachel Levine of the Commonwealth’s Department of Health.
The suits were consolidated and currently reside in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
In a Thursday filing, Giant Eagle defended its decision to not allow exceptions to the mandatory mask policy.
"Giant Eagle cannot ask its team members – who already stand on the front lines of the pandemic – or its customers to accept the increased risk of infection that comes with allowing exceptions to that rule. Nor would it make sense for Giant Eagle to ask team members to enforce a policy that requires exceptions, with no ability to confirm if an exception applies. Instead, Giant Eagle provides face coverings to any customer who needs one and offers home delivery or curbside service to any customer who either cannot or does not want to wear one," a representative for the supermarket stated.
Wolf recently issued an updated executive order which mandates the wearing of a mask for anyone leaving their home in Pennsylvania.
Pa. Business Group Urges Passage of Safe Harbor Immunity Protections
One month ago, a collection of 80 chambers of commerce throughout Pennsylvania sent a letter to the Commonwealth’s federal and state legislators, advocating support for safe harbor protections for businesses on COVID-19.
Groups like the PA Chamber for Business and Industry and others feel it is time for businesses to receive immunity from litigation like that against the grocery stores and amusement parks mentioned above.
“Pennsylvania employers that have faced unimaginable challenges during this pandemic are now being targeted with opportunistic lawsuits from profiteering attorneys,” said Lindsay Andrews, Director of Member Communication for the PA Chamber for Business and Industry.
“It is unacceptable, for example, for employers to be sued for face-covering policies the Wolf Administration has mandated that they implement and enforce – and equally unacceptable that the Administration has failed to issue an Executive Order providing safe harbor protections for businesses.”
Andrews said the organization “continues to implore the Administration and lawmakers to provide limited safe harbor protections that will help protect employers from these pandemic profiteers who are a growing threat to Pennsylvania’s economic recovery.”
Gene Barr, the group’s president, added recently that the state’s economy has suffered “enormous damage” as a result of the pandemic, and in addition to “targeted, temporary protection” for the business community, legislative collaboration will be needed to get it back up and running.
“At both the state and federal level, it is imperative that temporary and targeted liability reforms are put in place as soon as possible. Without them, everyone from health care providers to those working to keep our supply chains going to small businesses that are already struggling just to keep their doors open will be held back even more with the looming threat of frivolous lawsuits,” Barr said.
“This will only prevent our Commonwealth from experiencing the economic resurgence we desperately need – and without it, the state may never truly financially recover. On behalf of Pennsylvania’s broad-based business community, we are urging elected officials to act without delay on passing critical liability reforms.”
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com