Should Your Retail Store Be Worried About Wrongful Death Lawsuits Due to COVID-19?

Photo: Shutterstock

Retail is one of the few industries that has largely survived the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, wrongful death lawsuits remain a possibility after Walmart was hit with one such lawsuit back in April.

Following the death by coronavirus of a Walmart worker in Illinois, a relative filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Walmart. The outcome of this case could spark a new legal precedent and a flood of cases, according to law firm Davis, Saperstein & Salomon P.C.

Wrongful Death and Retail Store Owners

Davis, Saperstein & Salomon P.C. caution that it’s still too early to predict the outcome of the wrongful death lawsuit against Walmart. However, retail store owners should watch closely as there is a range of factors involved.

In the event that Walmart loses the case, it could lead to a huge number of wrongful death lawsuits by workers against retail businesses. You should click here to read more about how wrongful death claims work.

Establishing Liability is the Big Hurdle

The legal industry has yet to test the hurdles of wrongful death lawsuits in the context of a global pandemic. With more than 2.5 million positive tests in the US alone, virus-related wrongful death is likely to be in the spotlight for months and years to come.

The big hurdle in this particular case is establishing liability. To begin with, it’s difficult to determine how the victim contracted coronavirus in the first place, as they likely came into contact with a lot of people both inside and outside of work.

Furthermore, the plaintiff will need to prove that Walmart disregarded safe working policies that led to the spread of the virus.

Legal observers claim there are a lot of ‘what ifs’ in this case and the chances are this will drag on for years to come as there’s simply no precedent.

Disaster for the Retail Industry if Wrongful Death is Established

Walmart is not the only major retailer that could come under fire if wrongful death is proven in this case.

Major retailers and their partners operate similar working arrangements and other employees have contracted coronavirus throughout the pandemic. If the courts agree that Walmart is liable for wrongful death, it will almost certainly encourage others to come forward and file their own cases.

Wrongful death awards run into millions of dollars, so this could strike a major blow against the retail industry as a whole.

Davis, Saperstein & Salomon P.C. say that with businesses already reeling from the disruption caused by the pandemic, this could put a lot of retail businesses in serious trouble.

Should Retail Business Owners Take Action?

Entrepreneurs should work to implement safe working policies in their places of business if remote working isn’t possible.

Enforcing the wearing of masks at all times and implementing strict social distancing policies will go a long way to preventing potential legal action moving forwards. This is due to the legal precedent that wrongful death is not a factor if employers followed official advice and stuck rigidly to health and safety guidelines.

Either way, wrongful death will be the topic of conversation within the legal industry for the foreseeable future.