10/19/2005
CONTACT: Michael J. Donohue, (202) 544-9000
WASHINGTON, D.C. —The National Federation of Independent Business, the nation’s largest small-business advocacy group, today announced it will “key vote” legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would protect businesses from being held responsible for their customers' eating habits. The bipartisan bill, H.R. 554, the Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act, is expected to come to the House floor later today. The legislation is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Ric Keller (8th Dist.-Fla.). NFIB previously supported a similar bill that passed the House in 2004.
With the cost of lawsuits on the rise, more than half of all small-business owners are concerned about being sued. In the December 2003 NFIB Member Ballot, 88 percent of NFIB members agreed that food service companies, retailers, and wholesalers should not be held liable for customer obesity.
Small-business owners continue to pay a high price under our nation’s troubled legal system. H.R. 554 would inject a measure of fairness and protection into a legal system that preys on business, often without regard to legal merit. Currently, 21 states have enacted legislative bans on obesity-related lawsuits with overwhelming success. Congress must follow suit, to preempt the lawsuit industry from finding new targets by protecting innocent businesses.
The business community is appropriately concerned that the trial bar, in a never-ending effort to find new opportunities for legal exploitation, has turned its sights on the food industry. Individuals have already filed lawsuits blaming cookies and fast food for weight and health problems, with more suits expected. While initial suits have been thrown out of court, NFIB members are concerned that ultimately some of these suits will be successful.
As an NFIB Key Vote, the final tally on the Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act will be sent to all 600,000 NFIB members as part of the group's How Congress Voted scorebook just before the 2006 elections.
Editor’s Note: For more information about the attitudes of small-business owners regarding liability issues and legal disputes, please view the NFIB National Small-Business Poll: The Use of Lawyers. (see link below)
The National Federation of Independent Business is the nation’s largest small-business advocacy group. A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1943, NFIB represents the consensus views of its 600,000 members in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals.
