{"id":"DUT-GA-012","kind":"duty","level":"state","jurisdiction":"Georgia","state":"GA","metro":"","industry":"","agency":"","eco":"","issuer":"General Assembly of Georgia (Senators Hufstetler, Tillery, Strickland, Albers, Kirkpatrick and others); approved by Governor Brian P. Kemp, August 5, 2020","authority":"Ga. Const. art. III (legislative power); amends Title 51 (Torts) by adding Chapter 16","instrument":"Senate Bill 359 (2020), Georgia COVID-19 Pandemic Business Safety Act","title":"An Act to amend Title 51 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to torts, so as to provide for certain immunities from liability claims regarding COVID-19; to provide for assumption of risk presumptions; to provide for findings","dateIssued":"2020-08-05","effective":"2020-08-05 (Section 5: effective upon approval)","end":"Applies to causes of action accruing until July 14, 2021 (Section 4); extended to July 14, 2022 by HB 112 (Ex. DUT-GA-013)","startDate":"2020-08-05","endDate":"2021-07-14","quarters":["2020Q3","2020Q4","2021Q1","2021Q2","2021Q3"],"types":["DUTY","COND"],"addressees":["specified businesses and persons: every \u0027entity\u0027 (defined to include corporations, companies, partnerships, religious or educational organizations, governmental bodies and their officers, employees, contractors and vendors), every \u0027healthcare facility\u0027 and \u0027healthcare provider,\u0027 and every \u0027individual\u0027"],"clause":"No healthcare facility, healthcare provider, entity, or individual, shall be held liable for damages in an action involving a COVID-19 liability claim... unless the claimant proves that the actions of the healthcare facility, healthcare provider, entity, or individual, showed: gross negligence, willful and wanton misconduct, reckless infliction of harm, or intentional infliction of harm.","enforcement":"None (an immunity conditioned on the standard of conduct); a business below the standard, or one that did not print or post the warning, answered in tort under sections 34-7-20 and 51-3-1 (Exs. DUT-GA-010, DUT-GA-011)","functions":[],"notes":"The Act\u0027s condition is a standard of conduct, not a waiver: an entity keeps the immunity only while its conduct stays above gross negligence (the absence of even slight diligence, O.C.G.A. section 51-1-4), and the rebuttable presumption of assumption of risk in section 51-16-3 attaches only where the business printed the statutory warning on the ticket or receipt or posted, at the point of entry, a sign in at least one-inch Arial font reading \u0027Warning: Under Georgia law, there is no liability for an injury or death of an individual entering these premises if such injury or death results from the inherent risks of contracting COVID-19. You are assuming this risk by entering these premises.\u0027 Section 51-16-5 provides that the chapter \u0027shall not modify or supersede\u0027 Title 16 (crimes), Title 31 (health \u0027or any state regulations related thereto\u0027), Chapter 9 of Title 34 (workers\u0027 compensation) or Chapter 3 of Title 38 (emergency management), so every health and emergency-order duty stood in full force beside the immunity.","sourceUrl":"https://gov.georgia.gov/document/2020-signed-legislation/sb-359/download","snapshot":"","fileExists":true,"fileBytes":22281,"grade":"primary","character":"liability_shield_condition","description":"","collection":"DUT-GA","url":"/library/DUT-GA-012","exhibitUrl":"/exhibit/DUT-GA-012","citation":"General Assembly of Georgia (Senators Hufstetler, Tillery, Strickland, Albers, Kirkpatrick and others); approved by Governor Brian P. Kemp, August 5, 2020, Senate Bill 359 (2020), Georgia COVID-19 Pandemic Business Safety Act (Aug. 5, 2020) (Ex. DUT-GA-012)","stateName":"Georgia","related":["DUT-GA-013","DUT-GA-019","DUT-GA-010","DUT-GA-011"]}