One reason Congress can't agree on a new pandemic-relief package is that Senate Republicans insist on a provision to make it all but impossible to sue businesses over lax behavior that leads to coronavirus infections. The Washington Post recently charted how the U.S. Chamber of Commerce virtually wrote that liability-protection language.

A major reason civil legal action exists is to make injured parties whole and to deter corporate misbehavior. In fealty to big business, the Senate is undermining both those imperatives during the worst public health crisis in a century. Until the liability issue is resolved, approval of a new relief package will remain on hold. This obstructionism should stop.

America's battle over litigation rights long predates the current pandemic. No one can seriously dispute that frivolous lawsuits happen and are costly to society. On the other hand, the threat of litigation compels employers to make safer products and ensure workplaces aren't dangerous to the people working there. Better treatment of employees and customers are among the benefits when employers are required to consider factors beyond the headlong pursuit of profits.

The pandemic has the business world warning of a future nightmare scenario: a tsunami of lawsuits any time an employee or customer contracts the coronavirus in connection with a business. No such tsunami has materialized. One study finds that of the 4,280 coronavirus-related legal complaints filed in the U.S. so far, most involve insurance claims, civil rights or prison confinement, with just 10% of the filings related to employment.

The Chamber of Commerce says it's just looking to get ahead of the issue by getting a litigation shield in place now. But critics say it looks more like the business group is using the pandemic to further its longstanding goal of weakening plaintiffs' rights in general and making it harder to sue for anything.

"This is a long-term campaign to eliminate the rights of consumers to have lawyers defend them," Ed Mierzwinski, of the consumer watchdog group U.S. Public Interest Group, told The Washington Post. "They are using the pandemic as cover for something they have been seeking."

Given the still-evolving understanding of this virus and the need to get businesses back on their feet, it's not unreasonable to discuss some form of limited, temporary litigation shield — but the one being proposed by the chamber looks more like a blanket license for businesses to behave recklessly in the pandemic. Having seen examples around the country of irresponsible behavior by bars, entertainment venues, meat-packing plants and factories, that kind of open license to infect is the last thing that should be on the table.

Senate leaders should stop holding out for this near-total litigation shield and resume negotiating with House Democrats over a new relief package so America can get back to the business of addressing this crisis.

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