Are Restaurants Liable If Customers, Staff Get COVID-19?
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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- With many Minnesota bars and restaurants reopening June 1 in the midst of the pandemic, legal questions hang in the air about a business's responsibility in keeping everyone involved safe and healthy.
WCCO posed this question to attorney Joe Tamburino: Could a restaurant be held responsible if a customer or staff member gets sick with COVID-19?
READ MORE: Minnesota Restaurants And Bars To Learn Reopening Guidelines Wednesday
Tamburino says restaurants, like all businesses, have a duty to care for their customers. He believes if restaurants follow the new safety guidelines they should be immune to most lawsuits claiming customers contracted COVID-19 while eating there.
"How are you gonna prove you got it from the restaurant? Maybe you got it from your date, maybe the Uber driver, maybe at work, maybe someone you used a public restroom next to. It's going to be really hard to prove," Tamburino said.
He says people should understand they also assume some risk going to a restaurant during a pandemic.
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