Wisconsin Activists Ask: Where Are the Jobs in Gov. Walker’s Tort Reform

Across the country, newly elected Republican governors and state legislatures are trying to gut pro-worker, consumer and workplace safety laws and pass new legislation to weaken workers’ and consumers’ rights. Wisconsin AFL-CIO field communications coordinator Karen Hickey sends this report on a recent hearing on the so-called tort reform bill. If you are a Wisconsin resident, scroll down to find out how to take action.
It’s being billed as a special session on job creation, but a major portion of Gov. Scott Walker’s (R-Wis.) so-called jobs creation package—tort reform—now before the state legislature has nothing to do with creating jobs, says Wisconsin State AFL-CIO President Phil Neuenfeldt.

The special session on job creation is being used as a cloak for corporate interests to achieve a long-desired goal—to deny meaningful access to the courts for workers who are injured or killed on the job, as well as consumers and other victims who have been harmed.

On Tuesday, labor and community activists went to the state Capitol in Madison to show their strong opposition to the bill (SB 1/AB 1).  The hearing stretched late into the evening.

One of the most moving stories came from Dawn Kellner, whose 15-year-old son Jared was crushed when a chunk of concrete fell from a poorly maintained parking garage at O’Donnell Park last summer. Under the proposed law, it would be nearly impossible for Kellner to hold negligent contractors responsible for her son’s death. She told the hearing:

I want to know why Gov. Walker wants to protect the worst of the worst.

According to witnesses’ testimony the new law:

• Changes punitive damages criteria for those injured on the job. Victims of at work accidents will now have the burden of proving that the injury was “intended” by the employer in order to be awarded punitive damages. This new heightened standard effectively closes the courthouse door to most victims of egregious conduct resulting in serious injury or death.

Had this proposed new standard been in place in 2007 when three Ironworkers—Jeffrey Wischer, William DeGrave and Jerome Starr—fell to their deaths from a crane basket during the construction of Miller Park stadium in Milwaukee, their families would have been denied a punitive damage award.

• Changes to product liability law that encourage the export of jobs. The bill requires that victims harmed by faulty products seek compensation from the manufacturer first. Since it is near impossible to track down manufacturers and pursue legal remedies in countries such as China, this bill creates a perverse incentive to shift more manufacturing jobs out of Wisconsin.
   
• Eliminates retailer responsibility for harmful products sold in sealed packages. This means that if a child is injured by a faulty toy the family has limited rights and options.
   
• Limits the rights of nursing home residents’ families to protect their loved ones from negligent care. The bill changes legal standards for nursing homes, making it significantly harder to hold institutions accountable. It would deny families access to reports that show a pattern of abuse or mistreatment.

Joanne Ricca, Wisconsin State AFL-CIO legislative research director, told the hearing:

Stripping away individual legal rights and protections for workers, consumers and seniors to the extent this legislation does is not a small step. It cannot be justified by a few anecdotes and vague references to a “friendlier business climate.”

Ricca ended by reminding the legislature that the bill is offered as part of an emergency special session to create jobs and should be measured by that stated purpose.

Again, after over nine and a half hours of testimony, where are the jobs.

Both houses of the legislature are expected to vote on SB 1/AB 1 early next week. Your action is urgently needed. Please call or e-mail your elected officials and urge them to vote NO on Senate Bill 1 and Assembly Bill 1