COVID-19 is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation

Negligence or Inevitability?

While at first many of us did not take Coronavirus (COVID-19) as seriously as we should. However, by now we should all understand COVID0-19 is a very serious issue. There could be those that the effects are not deadly but those same people can unknowingly carry the virus to somebody with a weaker immune system that can be deadly.

As of March 23, 2020, the state of Tennessee has 505 confirmed cases of COVID-19 including those from Franklin, Marion, Hamilton and Bradley counties. The virus is easily spread and right now the best prevention is social distancing, washing hands, surfaces and the very difficult not touching your face. Have business and people done enough to help prevent the spread?

Unfortunately, there are currently many people that are ignoring the recommendations, going about their daily lives as normal and will spread this potentially deadly disease to others. For those that are staying at home, the potential for danger is less likely. But what if you are having to go to a place of business where there are larger groups of people? Is your business taking proper precautions to protect you? The same can be asked about cruise ships and other entertainment. Did they take proper precautions or did they knowingly put you in harm’s way to gain profit?

If you feel that a business or company has put you in harm’s way, please give us a call. We would love to hear your story and see if there is something we can do to help members of the community.

There are recent laws that have quickly passed that you should be aware of.

H.R.6201 – Families First Coronavirus Response Act https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/6201.

Among other things, this bill will:
Establish a federal emergency paid leave benefits program to provide payments to employees taking unpaid leave due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Expand unemployment benefits and provide grants to states for processing and paying claims,
require employers to provide paid sick leave to employees.

If you feel you have been put into a situation that should have been prevented, you can get in touch with our office. We offer chat on our webstite and we are taking calls at either 931-967-7000 and 423-267-7000.

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/naming-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-2019)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/new-coronavirus-stable-hours-surfaces

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/covid-19/