Legal News Roundup: September 16
Posted in In the news on September 16, 2020
Here’s a roundup of recent legal stories in the news.
Ohio Enacts COVID-19 Liability Shield
Law360 – Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed a law that shields businesses, health care providers and schools from civil liability for coronavirus-related injury and wrongful death suits. More than a dozen other states have similar provisions in place.
The law specifically bars class actions for injuries, deaths or loss of property absent reckless conduct, defined as “heedless indifference to the consequences” of COVID-19 exposure or transmission. The legislation is retroactive to March 9 and will expire Sept. 30, 2021.
The governor said the bill accomplishes two goals: to keep people safe and to jump-start a flagging state economy.
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AG Yost: Ohio teachers can carry guns at school without needing peace-officer training
cleveland.com – Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a brief with the Ohio Supreme Court stating that teachers and other school workers can voluntarily carry a concealed weapon on school property without needing peace officer training or experience. Yost filed the brief in support of the Madison Local School District Board of Education in Butler County, which allowed school employees to voluntarily carry concealed firearms provided they have a conceal-carry permit and undergo active shooter training. The school changed its policy after a student opened fire at Madison Junior-Senior High School in 2016, injuring four.
Parents sued the school district, stating that state law requires more training to carry a gun in schools. The 12th District Court of Appeals agreed. In his brief, Yost argued that the appeals court ruling was wrong, as teachers, principals, janitors and other non-security school workers are not hired to be “armed while on duty.”
The Ohio Supreme Court granted permission for Madison school workers to carry concealed firearms while it reviews the case.
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WWE Wins CTE Lawsuit
ABC News – A federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit filed by 50 former pro wrestlers who claimed World Wrestling Entertainment failed to protect them from repeated head injuries that led to long-term brain damage. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City agreed with a federal judge in Connecticut who tossed the lawsuits two years ago, saying many of the claims were frivolous or filed after the statute of limitations expired.
Plaintiffs in the suit included Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, Joseph “Road Warrior Animal” Laurinaitis, Paul “Mr. Wonderful” Orndorff, Chris “King Kong Bundy” Pallies and Harry Masayoshi Fujiwara, known as Mr. Fuji.
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U.S. Google Antitrust Case Set to Grow
Bloomberg – About a dozen states are expected to join the Justice Department’s upcoming antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet Inc.’s Google, according to people familiar with the investigation. The lawsuit is expected to be the most significant antitrust action in the U.S. since the government sued Microsoft Corp. in 1998.
Nearly every state attorney general is investigating Google in a parallel probe – led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton – centered on the company’s online advertising business. The Justice Department has investigated both Google’s flagship internet search business and its position in the online ad market
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