[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7794 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7794

To require a particular jury instruction in Federal civil actions that 
   include a claim for damages based on negligence arising from the 
                       transmission of COVID-19.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 17, 2022

  Mr. Biggs introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require a particular jury instruction in Federal civil actions that 
   include a claim for damages based on negligence arising from the 
                       transmission of COVID-19.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Businesses From Frivolous 
COVID Lawsuits Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. JURY INSTRUCTION IN FEDERAL CIVIL ACTIONS THAT INCLUDE A CLAIM 
              ALLEGING NEGLIGENCE ARISING FROM THE TRANSMISSION OF 
              COVID-19.

    In a Federal civil action that includes a claim alleging negligence 
arising from the transmission of COVID-19 and a request for damages, 
the court shall instruct a jury that--
            (1) the liability standard is the reasonable person 
        standard,
            (2) a person is negligent if the person either does 
        something that a reasonably careful person would not do in the 
        same situation, or fails to do something that a reasonably 
        careful person would do, in the same situation,
            (3) the act of opening a business, by itself, shall be 
        considered to be reasonable as a matter of law, and
            (4) the negligence may not be found solely on the basis of 
        holding oneself open for business.
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