Nearly six in 10 Florida voters oppose guaranteed immunity for corporations and businesses from lawsuits involving COVID-19 infections, according to a poll carried out on behalf of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
The survey, which was conducted between July 3 and July 8 by Tulchin Research, found similar results in neighboring Georgia and Louisiana. But the results contrast with another survey conducted in June by an organization supporting businesses. The Florida Chamber of Commerce found more than 70 percent of state voters supported legislation that would shield a business from lawsuits filed by those who claim to have contracted coronavirus as a result of visiting the enterprise.
The wording of the Tulchin Research question could explain the differences, according to David Hart, the chamber’s executive vice president of government and political relations.
The survey asked respondents about their views on providing businesses with legal immunity with respect to coronavirus infections and whether they agree with the following statement: “We should be able to hold corporations and business liable if they endanger the health and safety of their workers and customers by not taking the proper precautions to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus.”
The chamber survey, by contrast, asked if businesses in the state should receive such protections provided they followed federal and state coronavirus safety guidelines.
“No one should be surprised that a majority of people responded with opposition to the question when asked in that way,” Hart said of the Tulchin Research survey. “But, to be crystal clear, the temporary, targeted and timely liability protections we are seeking are for community job creators, Main Street stores and mom-and-pop businesses that are the good actors trying to keep their customers and employees safe by following federal and state guidelines.”
The protections the chamber has sought – which would be limited to the length of the pandemic – have garnered broad bipartisan support, he said.
“The only people who oppose these types of common-sense protections are opportunistic trial lawyers looking to file frivolous suits to line their own pockets at the expense of getting people back to work and keeping doors open,” Hart said.
In the Tulchin Research poll, only 33 percent of Floridians agreed with the statement, “Corporations and businesses should get immunity to allow struggling businesses to re-open safely and get people back to work and help our economy without risking a costly lawsuit.”
The poll was conducted as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was proposing federal coronavirus legal liability protections during the debate over providing additional COVID-19 relief funds.
The SPLC is a civil rights organization that files lawsuits it says are aimed at ending institutional racism.