Press Release

Washington, DC – An analysis of legal filings shows there has been no wave of COVID-19 litigation, undermining demands from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that corporations get legal immunity while more than 130,000 Americans have died from the pandemic.

A database maintained by the Hunton Andrews Kurth law firm has been tracking COVID-19 litigation across the U.S. since the epidemic began. Sen. McConnell’s proposal as described in news reports would gut the rights of injured workers and consumers, yet the database shows that they are not filing an influx of COVID-19 litigation.

For example:

• The number of personal injury cases nationally (classified as "Misc. Tort," "Health/Medical," and "Conditions of employment" under the "Labor & Employment" section) is 161 out of a total of 3,419 complaints (Full List below for a breakdown).
• The categories with the highest numbers of cases (by far) involve insurance (for example, small businesses not getting the business interruption coverage they had been paying for), civil rights (people challenging stay-at-home orders, among other things), and prisoner petitions. These three types of cases alone make up almost 59% of the total number of cases in the database.
• The database contains many cases that only tangentially relate to the pandemic. For example, one case in the database was filed by an individual trying to stop 5G equipment from being installed in their neighborhood; COVID-19 is only referenced because the residents are having trouble getting guidance from government agencies. In another case, the Trump campaign brought a lawsuit against a local NBC affiliate in Wisconsin, saying they aired an ad that misrepresented him calling COVID-19 a hoax.

Corporations have long used crises to demand immunity. According to David C. Vladeck, a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, “Immunity signals to workers and consumers that they go back to work or they go to the grocery store at their peril.” These latest numbers below show that even now, four months into the pandemic, no wave is materializing.

Summary of the Hunton Andrews Kurth Database as of July 13, 2020

3,419 Complaints

Complaints regarding exposure, potential exposure, or fear of exposure

Medical malpractice cases                                   6*

Wrongful death                                                           36

               Nursing homes – 31**   

Cruise ships – 4

Other – 1

Personal injury                                                             11

               Cruise ships – 10

               Charter plane – 1

Labor & Employment                                                 285***

Potential exposure to Covid-19 - 67

Unlawful termination – 143

* The six malpractice cases in detail:

• Bladder cancer misdiagnosis – the plaintiff is asking for the case to begin despite COVID-19 restrictions because he is “terminally ill.”
• Nursing home wrongful death class action.
• Petition to stop an 84-year-old asthmatic COVID-19 patient from being discharged to a facility with sub-standard care.
• 19-year-old was misdiagnosed and died from COVID-19.
• Death from exposure at a nursing home.
• Death from exposure at a nursing home.

 ** As of July 7, the virus has infected 296,000 people at 14,000 nursing home facilities, and killed at least 55,000 residents and workers.[i]

*** Another litigation tracker from Fisher Phillips has recorded 300 employment cases. For context, the number of unemployed individuals in the U.S. has grown by 12 million since February.[ii] 

	May 28	July 13
Banking/Financial Services	18	66
Other	13	40
SBA loan processing	5	18
Stimulus check garnishment		8
Challenges against Foreign Sovereigns	8	11
Cases against China	7	8
Other	1	3
Civil Rights	250	592
Business closure/Stay-at-home order challenges	81	235
Essential vs. non-essential designations	3	37
FOIA disputes	12	26
Government taking/commandeering property	3	5
Non-essential designations	17
Other	34	95
Other public safety measures	54	99
Schools closing	1	1
Voting	43	88
Withholding of funds	2	5
Consumer Cases	83	233
False advertising/UDTPA claims	17	46
Other	8	15
Price gouging	11	20
Recurring membership fee during shutdown	18	28
Travel and entertainment	29
Personal injury		11
Non-education-related cancelations		109
Products liability		1
Wrongful death from public COVID-19 exposure		4
Contract Disputes	51	178
Cancel or suspend contract for force majeure	8	31
Construction cases	1	6
Event cancellation (non-class, non-consumer)	7	12
Failure to close deal	8	13
Failure to refund (non-class, non-consumer)	16	65
Other	8	40
Termination of supply	4	12
Education	102	187
Other	6	28
Request for refund	96	159
General Court Admin Orders	3	10
Prisoner petitions	412	575
Health/Medical	25	62
Malpractice	2	6
Other	12	23
Right to visit nursing home patient	1	2
Wrongful death	10	31
Insurance	374	838
Event cancellation	2
GL	2
Other	370
Intellectual Property	7	19
Copyright	1	2
Trademark	6	15
Patent		2
Labor & Employment	73	285
Condition of employment (COVID-19 exposure)	30	67
Disability disputes	1	3
Discrimination	1	9
Leaves of absence	9	15
Other	4	13
Under/Over/Non-payment issues	11	36
Unlawful termination	17	143
Retaliation		2
Misc. Tort		32
Libel/Slander		10
Other		21
Wrongful death (other than employment, consumer, Healthcare)		1
None	7	9
Not Coded	788	81
Real Property	63	215
Damage to property	2	2
Landlord/Tenant	38	142
Mortgage dispute	2	6
Other	12	51
Refusal to extend closing date	9	14
Securities Litigation	5	26
Derivative shareholder claims	1	2
Other	4	22
Broker/dealer disputes		1
Exchange disputes		2
Trade	1	1
Tariffs	1	1

 

COVID-19 Cases as of July 7, 2020 by Rank

Insurance	838
Civil Rights	592
Prisoner petitions	575
Labor & Employment	285
Consumer Cases	233
Real Property	215
Education	187
Contract Disputes	178
Not Coded	81
Banking/Financial Services	66
Health/Medical	62
Misc. Tort	32
Securities Litigation	26
Intellectual Property	19
Challenges against Foreign Sovereigns	11
General Court Admin Orders	10
None	9
Trade	1