There Is No Wave of COVID-19 Litigation Threatening to Stall an Economic Recovery

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

[i] More Than 40% of U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Are Linked to Nursing Homes, New York Times, July 7, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-nursing-homes.html.
[ii] THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION — JUNE 2020, Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 2, 2020, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf.

CONTACT Peter Knudsen Email: peter.knudsen@justice.org Phone: 202-812-8969