Who’s being sued over coronavirus? China, universities and even governors. Here’s why
Americans are reputed to be the most litigious people in the world.
There are a lot of nuances surrounding that claim. Some argue it’s nothing more than a bloated myth. The U.S., after all, has the fifth most litigious rate per 1,000 people, according to the book “Exploring Global Landscapes of Litigation.”
Still, in the depths of a global pandemic that’s killed more than 235,000 people worldwide and at least 63,000 in the U.S., Americans have found no shortage of lawsuits to file.
If anything, the coronavirus seems to have exacerbated the country’s collective list of courtroom grievances.
“This early litigation is really, from our vantage point, the tip of the iceberg,” Harold Kim, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, told USA Today. “The level of litigation could really go into so many different directions.”
Airlines
A cop in Minnesota reportedly spent $1,500 on vacation flights through United Airlines before the pandemic hit, McClatchy News previously reported. But according to a federal lawsuit filed in early April, the airline wouldn’t give him a refund — just a travel voucher for a later date.
He’s suing on behalf of a proposed class of travelers who faced a similar predicament, and he’s not alone.
Delta is “accused of making it ‘difficult, if not impossible, for customers to receive any refund’” in a class action lawsuit of its own, Fox News reported. American, Southwest and Spirit have been hit with related claims for nonexistent or partial refunds, according to MarketWatch.
Many of them note the $58 billion airlines have received in federal aid, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
“But, despite the faucet of taxpayer money that will flow its way, American refuses to comply with the law or operate in the interest of its customers,” one lawsuit states, according to the Star-Telegram.
Care facilities
Some of the deadliest outbreaks of COVID-19 have been reported at long-term care facilities and nursing homes across the U.S.
State officials and health care advocates are doing their best to keep them from getting sued.
At least six states “offer legal immunity to nursing homes in the age of coronavirus” and half a dozen more offer protection for health care workers, McClatchy News reported, citing NBC News. Some argue nursing homes don’t have the proper testing and equipment to deal with a disease outbreak such as this.
But that hasn’t stopped some from seeking their day in court over loved ones who have died.
Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington — the site of one of the earliest nursing home outbreaks in the country — is being sued by the daughter of a resident who died from COVID-19 at the facility in March, McClatchy News reported.
Universities
Major colleges and universities are being sued for denying tuition refunds and closing campuses as the coronavirus forced students to finish out their semesters from home.
In North Carolina, several students filed lawsuits against the UNC System, the UNC Board of Governors and their individual universities — including East Carolina University, UNC Charlotte, UNC Asheville and UNC Wilmington, The Raleigh News & Observer reported.
The proposed class-actions are seeking reimbursements for tuition and fees, saying they “were deprived of the college experience that they paid for when campuses shut down,” according to the N&O.
Penn State is the subject of similar litigation, the Centre Daily Times reported.
According to the proposed class action, students agreed with the university’s decision to close down but said it hasn’t offered any type of “prorated discount or refund for spring tuition,” according to the newspaper.
China
The state of Missouri announced April 21 it was suing the Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party over a reported lack of action and efforts to suppress information when the first cases of COVID-19 appeared in late 2019.
“The Chinese government lied to the world about the danger and contagious nature of COVID-19, silenced whistleblowers, and did little to stop the spread of the disease,” Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said in a news release. “They must be held accountable for their actions.”
He alleges China denied the virus was spread by human-to-human contact, silenced whistleblowers by referring to them as “rumor mongerers,” took “little to no steps” to contain the virus and hoarded equipment.
And Missouri isn’t alone.
According to the South China Morning Post, Mississippi’s attorney general has said she plans to file similar claims. Individuals and businesses in Florida, California, Pennsylvania and Texas have also filed class action lawsuits accusing China for failing to mitigate the spread early on.
Jacques deLisle, director of the Centre for East Asian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, told the Post “there’s a lot of obvious intuitive appeal to those who want to see China held to account for its role in what happened here.”
But “these suits are a bit of a reach legally,” he told the newspaper.
Local and state governments
Governors and their administrations have been hit with lawsuits over an assortment of claims — from failing to adequately handle a spike in unemployment claims to instituting “unconstitutional” stay-at-home orders.
In Florida, residents are suing the department overseeing Florida’s unemployment system and the company that created it, the Miami Herald reported.
According to the lawsuit, “hundreds of thousands of” Floridians have been waiting over a month for benefits from the state’s Department of Economic Opportunity.
“They could not understand why this was an emergency,” one attorney told the Herald. “We were like, ‘Are you freaking kidding me?’”
Democrats in South Carolina sued the State Election Commission in the Supreme Court, seeking a ruling that would expand absentee voting because of the pandemic, The State reported. The Republican party is also seeking to intervene.
“The SC GOP simply wants a seat at the table to ensure all stakeholders have a voice in this matter of public interest and importance,” the Republican Party lawyers said in their motion, according to The State.
A county commissioner in Washington has accused Gov. Jay Inslee of violating residents’ constitutional rights with a statewide stay-at-home order. Clint Didier, a private citizen, told the Tri-City Herald he planned to file suit by Friday if Inslee didn’t rescind the order.
“These are our rights that were given to us. They weren’t supposed to be taken away,” Didier told the Herald. “I missed Easter Vigil. That is the first time in my lifetime that I wasn’t able to participate.”
A similar suit in Michigan was all but dismissed this week after a judge denied an injunction, ABC reported.
The judge said their’ “claims that the order infringed on their constitutional rights were not strong due to the severity of the pandemic,” according to ABC.
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 4:05 PM with the headline "Who’s being sued over coronavirus? China, universities and even governors. Here’s why."
