As cases of COVID-19 increase, the Dairy Business Association, Wisconsin’s leading dairy lobbying group, is urging the state Legislature to take up a bill that would protect businesses and others from predatory lawsuits over outbreaks of the illness.
The bill would create a liability exemption for individuals as well as entities like businesses and schools if they follow public health orders and take reasonable precautions to protect the public.
The exemption does not protect bad actors who knowingly violate public health orders or act recklessly, said the bill’s sponsors, state Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, and Reps. Mark Born,
R-Beaver Dam, and Dan Knodl, R-Germantown. Other states have taken similar legislative steps.