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Whitmer OKs bills to protect businesses from virus lawsuits

David Eggert | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 1 month AGO
by David Eggert
| October 22, 2020 10:27 AM

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday signed into law legal protections for Michigan businesses and other employers that are sued by infected customers or workers despite having followed all coronavirus safety protocols.

She also codified rules shielding hospitals and other medical providers from pandemic-related lawsuits except in cases of gross negligence, from late March to mid-July, in the wake of the state Supreme Court invalidating her executive orders. Another new law, which largely mirrors one of those orders, prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who stay home because they have been exposed to COVID-19.

An additional law codifies and augments her administration’s recently announced changes related to the care of nursing home residents recovering from the virus. A nursing home can be a designated “care and recovery” center only if it has a federal staffing rating of at least three out of five stars, a “distinct area” for infected patients and staff are solely dedicated to treating them.

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