[Business leaders who took part in a series of calls with the
president expressed fears they could be liable if employees went into
work too early and got sick] [[link removed]]

THE TRUMP REOPEN EFFORT: 'AN UTTER SH*T SHOW'  
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Eoin Higgins
April 16, 2020
Common Dreams
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_ Business leaders who took part in a series of calls with the
president expressed fears they could be liable if employees went into
work too early and got sick _

President Donald Trump speaks during the daily briefing on the
coronavirus pandemic at the White House on April 15, 2020, Mandel
Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

 

An attempt by President Donald Trump to enlist the assistance of
private business leaders in his efforts to reopen the U.S. economy by
early May was panned as a failure by participants and observers alike
as the White House response to the coronavirus pandemic appears set to
make an economic crash worse.

"He's got to stop talking about turning the economy back on and start
talking about making people feel safe, things that are happening
around testing, and the health care system," one CEO who commented
anonymously for fear of White House reprisals told
[[link removed]] _Politico_.
"That's the only way you will really get the economy reopened over a
period of time."

The meetings and rollout of the president's "Opening Our Country
Council" were reportedly beset by confusion and chaos as the White
House announced a series of calls with executives on Tuesday night
without consulting participants, many of whom had preexisting
commitments on quarterly earnings they could not reschedule.

Some business leaders had no idea that Trump was placing them on his
'Opening Our Country Council’ until they heard him announce
it.[link removed] [[link removed]]
pic.twitter.com/rA3DGJlPzO [[link removed]]

— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) April 16, 2020
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According to
[[link removed]] the _New
York Times_, CEOs on a series of White House calls were most concerned
about the lack of testing, which would make people feel less safe even
in the event of a reopening, and the possibility company leadership
could be held liable for putting employees back to work before it was
safe:

Mr. Trump opened the call by saying that "testing is under control" in
the country. But after each executive was given a minute or two to
provide his or her overview of what was needed to reopen the economy,
there was a wide consensus that more testing was needed before the
economy could reopen, according to two people who participated on the
call. Among those who made the point that the testing was necessary to
track who was infected and who might have immunity before returning
employees to work sites was Jeffrey P. Bezos, the chief executive of
Amazon.

Another issue of great concern to the executives on the call, one
participant said, was the need to address the liability companies
could face if employees got sick after returning to work, given the
possibility that workers who felt that they were brought back too
soon—or were not placed in a safe environment—could sue en masse.

"CEOs will go along with Trump's plan to force employees into
workplaces against the advice of public health experts, killing
many—for the sole purpose of juicing the stock market and his
re-election effort—but only if workers have no legal
recourse," _Crooked Media_ editor-in-chief Brian Beutler noted on
Twitter.  

As _Vanity Fair_ reported
[[link removed]],
Trump's council on reopening the economy has already gone through a
number of changes in just days:

Earlier this week, it looked as though Donald Trump, in all his
infinite wisdom, had put his daughter and son-in-law on the council
advising the White House on when to "reopen" the country. Given the
president's long history of putting the dynamic duo in charge of
matters they have literally no business
[[link removed]] being
anywhere near
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and his claim that Ivanka has single-handedly created 15 million
jobs
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the development appeared unsurprising if not completely absurd.
Luckily, it seems that someone with some ounce of sense intervened,
and told
[[link removed]] Trump
he should probably speak to a few actual business executives, if not
real-life economists. And what do you know? Those people have
apparently told him it would be absurd to get back to regular life
before the government has hugely increased testing capabilities.

Progressives derided the latest failure by the president to put
together a coherent response to the ongoing economic and public health
crises brought on by the pandemic and noted the reporting from
the_ Times_ on the calls and task force had highlighted concerns
from CEOs that they could be liable for forcing employees back to
work.

"An utter shit show described here," tweeted
[[link removed]] _Talking
Points Memo_'s Josh Marshall, adding readers should note the desire
from CEOs "to be immune from liability if employees are forced to go
back to work and get sick and die."

_Eoin Higgins is senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.
Follow him on Twitter: @EOINHIGGINS_
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