The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- Rhode Island
- Level
- State
- Authority
- R.I. Gen. Laws tit. 30, ch. 15
- Issued
- 2025-07-02 July 2, 2025
- Effective
- standing (read as 2025-07-02)
- End
- standing
- In force
- Standing since July 2, 2025 (a statutory duty; in force throughout the six quarters)
- Quarters
- 2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Health care ordersStanding dutyOperating condition
- Addressees
- specified businesses: health care facilities, health care professionals and other persons, firms and corporations performing disaster response services under State direction or request
- Character
- liability shield condition
- Collection
- Standing duties: Rhode Island DUT-RI
Operative words
nor, except in cases of willful misconduct, gross negligence, or bad faith, any disaster response worker complying with, or reasonably attempting to comply with this chapter, or any order, rule, or regulation promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this chapter... shall be liable for the death of, or injury to, persons, or for damage to property, as a result of disaster response activity.
Penalty
loss of immunity from suit for death, injury or property damage (the condition, not a fine)
What it required
Rhode Island's only liability shield of the period protects a 'disaster response worker' (defined to include 'any private person, firm, or corporation performing disaster response services at any place in this state subject to the order or control of, or pursuant to a request of, the state government') only while 'complying with, or reasonably attempting to comply with... any order, rule, or regulation promulgated pursuant to' the Emergency Management Act; EO 20-21 of April 10, 2020 (Ex. RI-013) declared health care facilities, professionals 'and other individuals and organizations assisting in responding to the virus' to be 'performing disaster response services within the meaning of R.I. Gen. Laws 30-15-15,' so compliance with the executive orders and RIDOH's rules was the condition of immunity.
Retrieval noteThe period text of subsection (a) was confirmed against P.L. 2025, ch. 403 (2025-H, LC000543/SUB A/2) as published at https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/PublicLaws/law25/law25403.htm, which shows subsection (a) without insertion or deletion and shows the new subsection (d) (engineering and architecture skills) as the only 2025 change. No general business COVID-19 liability shield statute of 2020 or 2021 was located on the General Assembly's site; EO 20-21 also suspended statutes and rules to expand hospital capacity and was restated in EO 20-33 and 20-70 (Ex. RI-018, RI-023).