NASHVILLE – The Tennessee General Assembly ended its annual session early Friday morning after failing to come to agreement on an effort by businesses, schools, nonprofits and others to make it tougher for people to win COVID-19 liability lawsuits.
A conference committee report that sought to iron out differences between the House and Senate chambers on the proposed Tennessee Recovery and Safe Harbor Act received 46 votes for passage in the House but needed 50 for approval.
It was the last remaining major bill on lawmakers’ agenda. Shortly after the bill failed at 2:40 a.m. CDT, lawmakers ended their annual legislative session.
The bill was brought by a 30-group coalition spearheaded by the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It sought to change the legal standard for people filing claims from the coronavirus, which so far has infected 32,829 Tennesseans, with 509 dead and 2,209 hospitalized.
Under the measure, qualifying businesses or other entities wouldn’t have been liable for any “damages, injury or death” from anyone allegedly contracting the coronavirus at their establishment unless the claimant could prove “gross negligence or willful misconduct” in that the entity didn’t comply with public health guidelines.