NY State Senate Bill 2023-S1227

Senate Bill S1227

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Relates to business safety plans and liability of businesses for damages associated with a pandemic

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Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Labor Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2024	referred to labor
Jan 10, 2023	referred to labor

co-Sponsors

2023-S1227 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Labor
Law Section:: Labor Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §200, Lab L; amd §2, Work Comp L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S8463
2021-2022: S3725

2023-S1227 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires each place of employment to develop a business safety plan to provide reasonable and adequate protection from a pandemic disease for all employees and people who lawfully frequent such places; provides that employers who develop and follow safety plans are not liable for damages to employees or patrons due to disease during a pandemic.

2023-S1227 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S1227

SPONSOR: ORTT
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the labor law and the workers' compensation law, in
relation to liability of businesses for damages associated with a
pandemic

 
PURPOSE:

This bill protects businesses from liability if one of their employees
or customers contracts a pandemic disease like COVID-19, as long as that
business has taken reasonable steps to protect employees and customers
from the disease.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the labor law to protect businesses from liability if
the business had and complied with a business safety plan that could
reasonably protect employees and customers, and the business wasn't
grossly negligent.

Section 2 amends the worker's compensation law to explicitly state that
a pandemic disease is not considered an "occupational disease" for work-
er's compensation purposes as long as the employer follows the guide-
lines established by Section 1.

Section 3 sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged businesses across New York State. It
is essential that our economy can reopen as soon as possible.  However,
the question of liability has given many New York business owners
concern as they plan how to reopen.

Making businesses liable for employees or customers contracting COVID-19
would force many businesses to stay closed for much longer than neces-
sary to protect themselves from the potentially monumental costs associ-
ated with such a liability. To get our economy running again, businesses
need to have the confidence to do so without being sued.

This is not just economically beneficial; it's fair to employers, too.
Contact tracing is an imperfect art, and it is impossible to definitive-
ly say where someone contracted COVID-19. With such an uncertain method
of detecting the source of an individual infection, it is simply not
fair for businesses to be liable for transmission.

This bill balances the two interests of public health and economic
revival. Employers would be required by the bill to make a good-faith
effort to protect all employees and customers from the disease and would
still be liable for gross negligence in this regard.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2021-2022: S.3725 Referred to Labor

2019-2020: Referred to Labor. New Bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Savings to the state and to all private businesses by protecting all
employers from extensive liability lawsuits.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2023-S1227 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1227
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 10, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  ORTT  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor
 
 AN ACT to amend the labor law and  the  workers'  compensation  law,  in
   relation  to  liability  of  businesses  for damages associated with a
   pandemic

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Section  200  of the labor law is amended by adding a new
 subdivision 5 to read as follows:
   5. IN THE EVENT OF A PANDEMIC, AS DECLARED BY THE WORLD HEALTH  ORGAN-
 IZATION, ALL PLACES TO WHICH THIS CHAPTER APPLIES SHALL, WITHIN FOURTEEN
 DAYS  OF  THE FIRST CONFIRMED CASE IN NEW YORK STATE, DEVELOP A BUSINESS
 SAFETY PLAN TO CONTINUE  OPERATIONS,  WHICH  SHALL  CONTAIN  A  PLAN  TO
 PROVIDE REASONABLE AND ADEQUATE PROTECTION FROM THE PANDEMIC DISEASE FOR
 ALL PERSONS EMPLOYED THEREIN OR LAWFULLY FREQUENTING SUCH PLACES. IN THE
 EVENT  THAT  A  PERSON EMPLOYED THEREIN OR WHO LAWFULLY FREQUENTS SUCH A
 PLACE CONTRACTS THE PANDEMIC DISEASE, THE OWNERS  OR  EMPLOYERS  OF  ANY
 PLACE  TO  WHICH  THIS  CHAPTER  APPLIES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES
 ASSOCIATED WITH CONTRACTING THE PANDEMIC DISEASE IF ALL OF THE FOLLOWING
 CONDITIONS ARE MET:
   (A) THE PLACE POSSESSED A COMPLETED BUSINESS SAFETY PLAN;
   (B) THE PLACE COMPLIED WITH ITS BUSINESS SAFETY PLAN;
   (C) THE BUSINESS SAFETY PLAN  REASONABLY  PROTECTED  PERSONS  EMPLOYED
 THEREIN AND PERSONS WHO FREQUENT THE PLACE; AND
   (D) THE OWNERS OR EMPLOYERS OF THE WORKPLACE WERE NOT OTHERWISE GROSS-
 LY NEGLIGENT.
   §  2. Subdivision 15 of section 2 of the workers' compensation law, as
 added by chapter 659 of the laws of 1984, is amended to read as follows:
   15. "Occupational disease" means a disease resulting from  the  nature
 of  employment  and  contracted  therein.  SUCH  TERM  SHALL NOT INCLUDE
 DISEASES CONTRACTED IN A PANDEMIC AS DECLARED BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGAN-
 IZATION WHEN THE EMPLOYER ACTED IN ACCORDANCE  WITH  THE  PROVISIONS  OF
 SUBDIVISION FIVE OF SECTION TWO HUNDRED OF THE LABOR LAW.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04717-01-3

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Senate Bill S1227

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Sponsored By

Robert G. Ortt