Higher-education leaders seeking to open their campuses for in-person operations this fall are asking Congress for protections that would insulate colleges from lawsuits brought by students, faculty, or staff who contract the new coronavirus.
The American Council on Education sent a letter on Thursday to Senate and House leaders seeking “temporary and targeted” liability-exposure protections for institutions that open their campuses this fall. The letter, co-signed by more than 70 other higher-education associations, also seeks protections for faculty and staff members and institutional systems, including affiliated nonprofit organizations and health-care providers.
In its letter, ACE said that such protections are necessary to “blunt the chilling effect” lawsuits would have on “otherwise reasonable decision-making leading to our nation’s campuses resuming operations in a safe and sensible manner.”
Colleges “are facing enormous uncertainty about Covid-19-related standards of care and corresponding fears of huge transactional costs associated with defending against Covid-19 spread lawsuits, even when they have done everything within their power to keep students, employees, and visitors safe,” the letter reads.
The letter echoes the liability concerns raised by 14 college presidents during a May 13 virtual meeting with Trump-administration officials, including Vice President Mike Pence and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. College leaders in Massachusetts also recently asked its state government to provide such protections.
Heather Wilson, president of the University of Texas at El Paso and a participant in the White House call, told The Chronicle at the time that college leaders were concerned about possible lawsuits in two areas: from students who wanted tuition refunds for taking online classes instead of in-person ones, and from people who fell ill after in-person operations resumed.
Last week Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told The Chronicle that it is possible that colleges could safely reopen their campuses in the fall if they took proper precautions, but it would depend on the location or demography of the institution.
The ACE letter does not ask lawmakers to shield institutions from all liability. Colleges would have to follow “applicable public-health standards” in reopening for the proposed shield to apply, and people “harmed by truly bad actors who engage in egregious misconduct” should still have legal recourse.
Higher education is not alone in asking for liability protection. Businesses in a number of states are making similar requests of their state legislatures, seeking measures to shield them from lawsuits if their customers or workers contracted the virus. The U.S. Senate’s majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has also proposed such protections, a federal plan that has been sought by industry groups for doctors, manufacturers, and business owners, among others, and has widespread support from Republicans, including President Trump. However, Democratic lawmakers have been skeptical of providing blanket immunity.
