Bill > H3597

This Joint Resolution, known as the "South Carolina COVID-19 Liability Safe Harbor Act," provides temporary legal protection for businesses and healthcare providers in South Carolina against lawsuits related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, it creates a "safe harbor" meaning a legal shield from liability for "covered entities" (which include for-profit and non-profit businesses, government agencies, healthcare facilities, and healthcare providers) and their "covered individuals" (directors, officers, employees, agents, etc.) if they reasonably followed "public health guidance" (rules and directives from state health and safety agencies like the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control or SC Occupational Safety and Health Administration) at the time of the incident. This protection applies to "coronavirus claims," which are any lawsuits arising from actual, alleged, or feared exposure to or contraction of COVID-19, or from efforts to prevent its spread. The protection is not absolute and can be overcome if a claimant proves by clear and convincing evidence that the entity or individual acted with reckless, willful, or intentional misconduct, or made no attempt to follow public health guidance. The provisions of this resolution are retroactive to March 13, 2020, and will prevail over any conflicting state laws, with the protections being cumulative of any other existing legal defenses.

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https://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php?billnumbers=3597&session=124&summary=B