This legislation, titled the "Georgia Pandemic Business Safety Act", address liability for businesses, health care providers, local governments, and other entities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. County government employees and county government facilities are included as being afforded liability protection. 

No cause of action (lawsuit) shall exist for the transmission, infection, exposure or potential exposure of COVID-19 unless a local government, business (or other entities as defined in legislation) performed gross negligence, willful and wanton misconduct, reckless infliction of harm, or intentional inflection of harm.

One of the provisions of the bill is a rebuttable presumption for assumption of the risk by the claimant if an entity posts specific signage at their point of entry.  ACCG encourages you to consult with your county attorney regarding the placement of signage in county facilities.  For sample signage with the required language in one-inch Arial font (per the specifications of the legislation), click here. Note that this sample sign must be printed as an 18” x 24” in order to achieve the one-inch requirement as indicated in the legislation.

The Act covers state level claims, not federal claims, and only applies to causes of action accruing on or before July 14, 2021.