ALEXANDRIA, Va.—During the ongoing pandemic, convenience retailers have kept their doors open, followed U.S. Centers for Disease Control guidelines and paid attention to industry best practices but still face the threat of COVID-19-related lawsuits without congressional action. Join NACS for a prerecorded webinar with live Q&A tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept 15, to learn how to minimize the legal risks of doing business in the time of COVID-19.

The webinar will take place at 2 p.m. ET. If you can’t make tomorrow’s time slot, registrants will receive a link to the recording following the event.

Legal counsel from Goodwin Procter and ThirdChannel will discuss: 

• The most common types of COVID-19-related lawsuits
• Where retailers are getting the most tripped up
• Specific steps retailers are taking that are proving effective in court

For employers, being sued for gross negligence and willful misconduct alleging they didn’t take steps to comply with CDC guidelines is among the most common type of COVID-19-related lawsuit, attorneys say. Other employment-related lawsuits involve employees who were furloughed or employees who were denied leave or penalized for taking leave.

The most common pitfall businesses encounter involves letting their guard down when it comes to training staff on deescalating conflicts over face masks, helping customers maintain safe social distancing and having hand sanitizers available for customer use and encouraging their use.

Staying on top of changing guidelines is key to protecting your business, and it’s especially important to designate a specific person or group to make sure your policies and training are up to date. Long-term systems to ensure safety must be in place.

These and more topics will be addressed, and the attorneys will take questions from attendees during a live Q&A. If you have a specific question you want answered, feel free to submit it now or ask it during the program.

Register to attend and submit your questions here.

Coronavirus Resources

NACS has compiled resources to help the convenience retail community navigate the COVID-19 crisis. For news updates and guidance, visit our coronavirus resources page.