Indiana Small Business Needs Liability Protection In Light of Mask Requirement
NFIB, the National Federation of Independent Business, which has thousands of small business members across the state, is calling on lawmakers to enact liability protection for small business owners after the new requirement that all Hoosiers must wear masks, which takes effect on Monday, July 27th. All Hoosiers over the age of 8 will have to wear a mask indoors, including in small businesses across the state.
Here’s the problem: small business owners don’t have any protection if one of their customers or employees decides to sue them. Small business owners are busy doing everything they can to protect those employees and customers. They are following safety protocols and spending thousands of dollars on hand sanitizer, plexiglass barriers and PPE.
“Small business owners are doing everything they can to stay open and avoid another shutdown. However, the mask requirement opens the door to unfounded and frivolous lawsuits. A customer or employee can sue a small business owner, claiming they got COVID-19 at their place of business even though it is impossible to prove,” said NFIB State Director in Indiana, Barbara Quandt. “Now is the time to pass liability protection for small business owners, who are already on shaky financial ground. One frivolous lawsuit could be the nail in the coffin for our already struggling Hoosier small business owners.”
NFIB has been pushing for liability protection surrounding COVID-19. It is one of the five priorities that NFIB is asking Congress to enact in our phase 4 recovery plan. Last week, Senator Messmer pledged his help to NIFB members. Click on the links to hear from Indiana small business owners and why they say liability protection is so important as they continue to deal with the crushing impact from the coronavirus crisis.
