COVID-19 liability protections for businesses and others becomes law

Senate Bill 5, which gives employers protections against frivolous lawsuits related to COVID-19, went into law Sunday without the signature of the governor.

This legislation was a top priority of the Kentucky Chamber and a large coalition focused on important protections as the state recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The amended bill passed on the final day of the 2021 legislative session to protect businesses, schools, and organizations that did their best to follow COVID-19 health protocols from lawsuits. Changes were made on the final day of session to more narrowly tailor and clarify the focus of the bill. Senate Bill 5 does not give blanket protections to bad actors but instead provides relief to many businesses whose operations have been severely impacted by the pandemic.

On Sunday, Kentucky Chamber President and CEO Ashli Watts released the following statement:

“With Senate Bill 5 going into law, Kentucky now joins the majority of states in passing Covid-19 liability protections for health care workers, schools, PPE manufacturers, and public-serving businesses. The Chamber applauds the General Assembly, Senate President Robert Stivers, and House Speaker David Osborne for passing Senate Bill 5 and Governor Andy Beshear for allowing it to become law. This past year has created challenges unlike anything we have seen, but the pandemic has shown us Kentuckians will rise to the challenge to serve and protect one another.”