Corporate Immunity Would Be a Green Light to Take Shortcuts With Safety
CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY, NOT IMMUNITY
Welcome to the latest edition of “Corporate Accountability, Not Immunity,” a daily tipsheet highlighting key news and important facts on why Congress should not give corporations legal immunity from coronavirus-related harms to workers, consumers, patients and the public. Also refer to our tipsheet on misleading claims from industry groups and conservative lawmakers. Please send tips, feedback and questions to David Rosen at drosen@citizen.org.
LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE OPPOSES CORPORATE IMMUNITY: The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and nine of its member organizations sent a letter to the congressional leadership on Tuesday opposing corporate immunity. “By shielding employers from accountability, the Safe to Work Act would essentially give employers a green light to ignore worker safety. With more than five million COVID-19 cases and more than 160,000 deaths, Congress must act to protect the health and lives of all our people, not incentivize a race to the bottom for workplace standards,” the groups said.
IMMUNITY PROPOSAL WOULD PROHIBIT WORKPLACE ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS: As the National Women’s Law Center noted, the U.S. Senate Republican proposal to immunize businesses from liability also would prohibit “government agencies from investigating or bringing enforcement actions against businesses for health and safety, wage and overtime, and antidiscrimination violations. The bill severely limits the ability of government agencies like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the [U.S.] Occupational Safety and Health Administration to ensure that employers respect workers’ rights and follow the law.”
MORE THAN 93,000 PEOPLE WRITE TO CONGRESS OPPOSING CORPORATE IMMUNITY: More than 93,000 people have participated in a citizen letter-writing campaign calling on members of Congress to oppose proposals to make companies immune from accountability to workers, consumers and patients.