"We’re all in this together!"
We hear that sentiment expressed on all sides now, daily and even hourly, what with the spread of the Coronavirus and the coordinated efforts to stifle it being made by federal, state, and local governments, as well as private businesses and nonprofit organizations. It’s a noble and generous sentiment: a message of solidarity, as well as an exhortation to each of us to give everything we can to the effort and graciously accept our share of the burden without carping.
Unfortunately, it’s a sentiment not shared by certain members of our society, however much they may pay lip service to it. Some of our fellow citizens don’t want to let a crisis go to waste. They want to take full advantage of it, exploit it as best they can, and profit from it. They’re more than willing to sacrifice the common good for personal gain.
Enter the Corona Pirates, the trial attorneys looking for targets to hold responsible for the ravages of the virus. Whom can they sue? Cruise ship operators? Check. Manufacturers of soaps and sanitizers? Check. Manufacturers of personal protective equipment (PPEs)? Check. Drug companies, hospitals, nursing homes? Check check, check.
A better question might be: Whom can’t they sue? Anyone, anywhere, who arguably has not done enough, fast enough, to contain the virus is potentially to blame, and suable. Anyone who fails to follow CDC and other guidelines scrupulously is subject to attack.
Did you not wear a mask when you reached out your front door to collect your mail? Gotcha! Did you not sing an entire aria while washing your hands? Gotcha! Did you stand five feet behind someone in public, instead of six? Gotcha!
“Plaintiff lawyers right now are trying to think about possible classes” for lawsuits, confides attorney Victor Schwartz of Shook Hardy & Bacon.
What seems like a calamity to the rest of us is a grand opportunity for them. We may be in this together, but they’re not in it with us. They’re exacerbating the situation and making it worse for everyone else.
