While we specialize in cybersecurity solutions, there are professional organizations (in other critical infrastructure sectors) we often collaborate with, to help support the community.
Increasingly, as we navigate through the pandemic, we are speaking with clients and local businesses experiencing significant revenue loss. This leads to insurance policy reviews and business interruption claims, to help recover losses resulting from this public health crisis.
Examples of where this comes up:
Insurance Bad Faith Claims—Businesses and People Hurt by Coronavirus
Every insurance company is required by the California laws to provide “good faith and fair dealing” when evaluating claims made by business and people. Business, companies, and people pay monthly premiums to their insurance companies in order to provide help during times of trouble. In exchange for those monthly premiums, the businesses, often small businesses or people, receive a benefit of getting resources or help when things go bad. When the insurance companies deprive those businesses or people of their insurance benefits, meaning the insurance company refuses to make good on payments, you may have a claim for Insurance Bad Faith.
Business interruptions are ongoing with the Coronavirus. A business that suffers a financial downturn because of the impact of the Coronavirus, may be able to describe such losses as an “interruption” of business, and their insurance policies may provide coverage for economic assistance. Although interruption policies may require physical loss or damage, no two policies are exactly alike, and having an attorney review such policies will be very important. Insurance coverage questions are likely to also arise where governments order businesses to shut down, as we have seen with restaurants, bars, clothing stores, and several other business types. Insurance companies may be responsible for handling such commercial claims of business loss, and having an attorney evaluate such claims will assist in obtaining any possible recovery.Consumer Class Actions
Consumer class actions occur where a group of consumers have been the victim of misconduct by defendants. Generally, a large company has harmed a massive group of people through deceptive business practices, failure to protect consumer interests, violating the law, or for creating defective products. The named class representative will represent the interests of the other class members and bring forward a lawsuit on their behalf.
As we have seen already, the Coronavirus affects people in large groups. We have all seen the multiple large-scale events that have been cancelled due to the Coronavirus, including the professional sports leagues, big concerts and festivals, business conferences and conventions, and several other type of group gatherings. With these cancellations, hundreds of thousands of people may have lost out on purchases or investments. With these mass losses, there may be a claim against those who did not have capacity to refund or provide an alternate capability to compensate for such loss.
Another example is the heavy marketing occurring for Coronavirus, including advertisements for sales of medical equipment, vitamins, and other products that are alleged to prevent Coronavirus or stop the spread of Coronavirus. Such false advertising that influences people to spend money on fake products could also lead to a class action lawsuits.
If you purchase a product that turned out to be false advertising due to the heightened concern and media involving the Coronavirus, you may have the opportunity for a lead case in a consumer class action and represent a large group of people who were also wronged by that fraudulent conduct.Employment Class Actions
An employment class action lawsuit is similar to a consumer class action, but is a lawsuit by the class representative who has the same type of claims against an employer. For example, an employer who fails to pay overtime, fails to provide breaks, provides non-compliant wage statements, fails to reimburse employees, does not make correct payments for deliveries, or does not provide adequate working conditions for all of its employees may give rise to an employment class action. Damages for monetary compensation are demanded in the single class action rather than each individual employee bringing a separate lawsuit.Employment—Wrongful Termination
An employee who is fired in violation of an employment contract, for discriminatory reasons, for taking protected leave, for reporting an employer’s wrongdoing, or for exercising certain legal rights may have a wrongful termination claim. For instance, an employee cannot be fired on the basis of their race, gender, ethnic background, religion, age, or disability. It is also illegal to fire an employee exercised legal rights as well. Such adverse actions are considered “retaliation” and are against the law.
Additionally, where an employer’s discharge of an employee violates fundamental principles of public policy, the discharged employee may maintain claim and recover damages traditionally available in a wrongful termination case. The measure of recovery by a wrongfully discharged employee is the amount of salary or money agreed upon for the period of service that was lost due to the wrongful firing. Because a termination can also make it more difficult for an employee to find another position, lost future wages and earning capacity can also be recovered. This is especially important now, when an economic downturn can make rejoining the workforce more difficult.
If a person gets the Coronavirus infection, that individual’s medical condition may qualify as a disability under the American Disabilities Act (ADA), and in general, an employer cannot fire an employee just because they become disabled. Further, as long as there is a reasonable accommodation that does not create an undue hardship on your employer, like working from home, the employer would have difficulty to fire a person in that situation. Importantly, to be covered by the ADA, you must have a disability that will substantially limit your major life activities and ability to work, such as walking, sitting or talking. Another situation with the Coronavirus is where an employer makes the decision to fire an employee who is under quarantine. Such an employee can make the case that his or her job should be, protected under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for your own or a family member’s “serious medical condition.”
Discrimination occurs when an employee or job applicant receives less favorable treatment because of their age, gender, or religious beliefs. Another area of concern with the Coronavirus is for the employees who are older, particularly those employees who are over 60-years-old. An employee who is over 60 is particularly susceptible to the dangers from the Coronavirus infection. What has been shown through the early statistics is that the Coronavirus is more dangerous for the elderly, who may have a weakened immune system. An elderly employee, even without symptoms, would be wise to practice social distancing and refrain from going to work. An employer who terminates an employee of an older age may be responsible for age discrimination. This type of case could fall under the gambit of age discrimination—wrongful termination.
*This is not an area we specialize in, and none of this should taken as legal advice.
However, if you have been impacted in one (or more) of these ways and/or have questions about your situation, we can recommend an expert in this field, that offers a no-pressure, supportive consultation.
If we can point you in the right direction, contact us at 858-848-5776 or reach@ssowow.com.
