Appendix A: Areas of Law that Could be Implicated
This resource is an appendix to the Guidelines for Conducting Education Abroad during COVID-19
National or regional laws, e.g.:
- Workplace safety standards
- Use of government funding or representation about its use (if audited)
- Financial aid and work-study regulations
Tort negligence (e.g., if someone becomes ill from coronavirus as proximate cause of breach of duty owed, and illness is reasonably foreseeable)
- To avoid such liability, must act as reasonable person would under the circumstances by, at a minimum, complying with applicable laws and guidelines; to be distinguished from intentional or statutory torts
- Legal standards might be based on CDC, OSHA, State Dept. Travel Advisories, host country agencies, WHO, etc.
- Defenses could include contributory/comparative negligence, assumption of risk, or failure to prove causation (difficult to pinpoint how and when a person has contracted the virus)
- Types of conduct that, if neglected, could give rise to tort negligence:
- Health and hygiene arrangements, e.g.:
- Provide a nurse’s station
- Ensure there is a safe place where participants can quarantine if they get infected
- Screen upon entry to school premises
- Availability of hand wash stations on campus
- Regularly sanitize frequently touched surfaces
- Remind students/others to stay home if they have symptoms
- Require face masks be worn (and provide, as necessary)
- Regularly test and monitor
- Ensure adequate COVID-related signage on campus, in housing, or in program facilities
- Provide contract tracing
- Ensure adequate accommodations for high-risk individuals
- Require self-quarantining if returning to location after travel
- Ensure proper health and hygiene arrangements are available during all co-curricular or experiential activities that are included as part of the program.
- Social/physical distancing, e.g.:
- Student residences
- Campus dining
- Classroom configuration: Smaller class sizes and reconfigured spaces, staggered class schedules
- One-way stairwells
- No assemblies, athletics, limiting face-to-face meetings, encouraging videoconferencing
- Availability of counseling services
- Student social and emotional support (pastoral care)
- Employee Assistance Program
- Timing regarding suspension of program
- Health and hygiene arrangements, e.g.:
Breach of contract, e.g.:
- Between home school and host school
- Between home or host school and service provider
- Between school or service provider and third parties (e.g., vendors)
- Between school or service provider and faculty (based on local labor laws)
- Between school or service provider and parents (e.g., for reimbursement of fees, emergency evacuation costs, diminished value of education if in remote learning mode; failure to accommodate students on campus or in classrooms if return early from overseas)
Discrimination claims, e.g.:
- Who gets tested or temperature checked and how frequently?
- Who is required to quarantine and under what conditions?
- Subjecting individuals to inequitable standards/treatment re: reimbursement if program suspended, if offer preferred travel opportunities home for some, or if differential treatment of those who violate program rules
- Ensuring safety policies do not mistreat persons who fall within a protected category and that disability accommodations related to any online work are adequate and in compliance with applicable law
Privacy issues, e.g.:
- Requesting health information
- Relying on cell phone data to do contract tracing
- Mishandling of privacy-protected medical info re: GDPR (Europe), HIPAA (U.S.)
Due process rights infringement, e.g.:
- Requiring testing, temperature checks, facemasks, etc.
- Forced self-quarantine or isolation
- Disciplining for failure to comply with restrictions
Local reporting requirements, e.g.:
- Opening or closing program
- Number of infections
- Number of deaths
Visa/entry/border closing concerns