ALEC Corporations' Efforts to Escape Responsibility For Causing Death or Injury
The bills on this page represent ALEC corporations’ efforts to escape responsibility for their wrongdoing and to prevent Americans injured or killed by corporate conduct from receiving just compensation. These so-called "tort reform" bills are drafted at American Legislative Exchange Council conventions with input from, and approval by, Big Business, then introduced in state legislatures to erode the rights of working Americans. Politicians are elected to represent the people, not corporations; through ALEC, corporations have both a VOICE and a VOTE on specific state laws. Do you?
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Learn MORE about "Model Bills" that Limit the Liability of Corporations Accused of Injuring or Killing Americans
The Center for Media and Democracy has annotated the "model legislation" politicians and corporations voted on, and we will be adding our analysis below and other publications, such as our sister sites, PRWatch and SourceWatch. Please bookmark this page.
How are corporations avoiding liability in these bills?
The bills corporations and their politician allies VOTED on behind closed doors through ALEC try to change American's rights by: Making it easier for corporations to get a judge to dismiss an injured American's case before it gets to a jury; Making it harder for injured people to use "class action" procedures which strengthen their negotiating power; Making it more difficult to introduce new scientific research in injury cases through expert witnesses; Limiting the liability of corporations by changing the rules for apportioning fault and thus limiting recover; Limiting the ability of Americans to sue for injuries where the cause or effect was not known until much later;
Changing the rules about where an injured American can sue and the process for appealing a ruling; Limiting liability for injuries or death to Americans from defective products if a product is approved by the government (even though many regulatory agencies have been captured through the revolving door between government and the industries being regulated, many of the same industries pushing these bills); Limiting the power of Congress to create national rules to protect Americans, no matter their state residence, if injured by defective corporate products distributed nationally; and, among other things, Limiting the power of courts in personal injury cases.
Other Helpful Resources
Here are links to reports by reporters and advocates that have been challenging the ALEC corporate agenda:(CMD is not affiliated with these organizations. If you would like to be listed as a resource, contact us.)
Some of this Corporate Agenda Has Already Become Law
Wisconsin Governor (and ALEC alum) Scott Walker’s first action upon taking office was to push “tort reform” measures from the ALEC corporate wish list to protect corporations from lawsuits. Wisconsin Act 2, passed on a party line vote and signed by Walker in January 2011, bore a strong resemblance to several “tort reform” bills supported by ALEC corporations. For example, Wisconsin Act 2:
Adopts parts of the ALEC "Punitive Damage Standards Act," limiting the ability to hold corporations accountable for outrageous acts of negligence or recklessness causing injury or death.
Draws liberally from the ALEC "Product Liability Act," giving corporations free reign to manufacture shoddy products that can wound or maim. A corporation can now escape liability in Wisconsin by showing that the product it manufactured complied with existing regulations, even if the corporation knew the product was dangerous, a standard also reflected in the ALEC "Regulatory Compliance with Liability Act."
Draws from elements of the "Comparative Fault Act" and "Joint and Several Liability Act" in changing the standards for apportioning fault in a product liability lawsuit.
Extends liability protections to the nursing home industry (which supported him in the election), using ALEC bills such as the "Non-Economic Damages Act," limiting awards in cases involving for long term health care providers to $750,000 (an increase from the ALEC $250,000 cap) or the amount awarded in economic damages.
Adopts the ALEC “Reliability in Expert Testimony Standards Act” verbatim, adopting the Daubert standard for the qualifications of people testifying as experts when they give court testimony.
After Governor Walker changed the rights of injured Wisconsin residents as ALEC corporations had called for, ALEC publicly applauded Walker's actions.
To learn more about this story, click here (PLACEHOLDER) (Have any of these bills been introduced or enacted in YOUR state? If so, please add that information to the ALEC Exposed page on your state by searching for your state's name in the search engine at the top of this page.)
Limiting Damages for the Loss of Your Child, Spouse, or Parent
One of the corporate-politician proposals of ALEC would limit the ability of a family to recover for emotional damages due to the death or injury of a loved one. (LINK) This type of legislation basically makes working class or poor people's lives--as well as the elderly--worth less to their families because any damages for pain and suffering due to the death of a child, spouse, or parent would be limited to an amount equal to twice their loved one's lost earnings and medical expenses. These kind of corporate provisions try to prevent a jury of YOUR peers from awarding you damages for all you have lost or suffered AFTER a jury finds that your loved one's death was the result of corporate negligence, misconduct, or greed. Is a local legislator who was elected to represent YOU actually protecting the profits of global corporate wrongdoers through such legislation instead of YOU and YOUR FAMILY?
ALEC Exposed is a project of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). CMD does NOT accept donations from for-profit corporations or government agencies. More information about CMD is available here. You can reach the publisher of ALEC Exposed, CMD's Executive Director, Lisa Graves, via editor AT alecexposed.org.
