DES MOINES, Iowa - Iowa businesses now have more protections against COVID-19 related lawsuits.
Governor Reynolds signed a bill Thursday, SB 2338, that limits who can file civil lawsuits against businesses for COVID-19 illnesses, and raises the bar for business liability. The new law is retroactive to January 1st, 2020.
Employees, customers and family members can only sue over cases involving COVID-19-related hospitalizations or deaths, and they must prove a business owner intended to make people sick.
Neighboring Illinois passed a bill that places the burden of proof on the business.
Democrats fiercely opposed the Iowa bill that passed to legislature on party lines, arguing it went too far in protecting meat packing plants and nursing homes that didn't provide enough safeguards against the virus.
Nursing homes account for roughly half of the COVID-19 deaths in Iowa.
The bill signed by Governor Reynolds provides the legal protections for a wide range of businesses, including doctors, hospitals, meat packing plants, nursing homes and restaurants.