Legal Aspects of Crisis Management

Workshop for Azusa Pacific University’s Emergency Management Team

December 15, 2004

Disaster Planning/Crisis Management/Emergency

Operations

Terms that indicate a process or plan by which an

organization can respond in a crisis situation

Crisis Events

• Natural accidents– Fires, earthquake, flood, wind

• Normal accidents– Physical crisis, economic crisis,

personal crisis

• Abnormal accidents– Criminal, information, reputation

Emergency Management Team

• Prepare the university for crisis related events

• Mitigate when possible the occurrence of such events

• When possible decrease the affects of such events

Emergency Management Team - Goals

• Life safety

• Secure APU’s critical infrastructure

& facilities

• Resume the educational activities

of the university

Elements of Emergency Management

• Risk assessment• Emergency operations plan• Incident command system• Response• Recovery• Mitigation

Emergency Management Issues

• Life safety• Protection of property• Insurance & ability to recover• Exposure to civil & criminal liabilities• Compliance with statutory and

regulatory rules• Short and long term viability in market• Environmental• Social• Personnel

Laws & California Governmental Agencies

• Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000

• California Office of Emergency Services– Title 19– Health & Safety Code– Labor Codes

Laws & APU

• Cal/OSHA – Title 8 – Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIP)– Emergency Action Plan (EAP)

• Reporting a fire• Emergency evacuation• Procedures for employees who remain to operate

equipment• Procedures for accounting for all employees• Procedures for employees performing rescue or

medical duties• Training

Laws & APU

City of AzusaDevelopment Code: 3.10.030.E

High occupancy and sensitive facilities shall have an emergency response plan with contingencies for all appropriate hazards submitted with every building permit request

Laws & APU

Azusa Pacific University Specific Plan

Will require APU to have an integrated campus plan to meet the requirements of the Development Code

Possible Laws & APU

• 9/11 Commission– Recommends the adoption by

Homeland Security the use of National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1600 as the national preparedness standard

– NFPA 1600 has been adopted by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as the National Preparedness Standard

NFPA 1600

• Standardized disaster/emergency planning and business continuity

• Mitigation oriented• Procedures for disaster and recovery• ICS• Organization must develop procedures to

carry out the plan• Must develop communication plan• Training & Education

Laws & APU

• Worker’s Compensation

• Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA)

Laws & APU

• Duty & Liability – Does a given set of circumstances create legal responsibility for harm and should it attach to whom and why

Civil Law – Relevant Factors

• Foreseeability of harm• Nature of the risk• Closeness of the connection

between the college’s act or omission, and the injury

• Moral blame and responsibility

Civil Law – Relevant Factors

• Social policy of preventing harm• Burden on the university and the

larger community if duty is recognized

• Availability of insurance

“foreseeability of harm”

Duty is…only an expression of the sum total of those considerations of policy which lead the law to say that the plaintiff is entitled to protection…

As society changes…so our relations to one another change, and the law must adjust accordingly…

Estates of Morgan, supra, 673 N.E. 2d at 1322

Can the university foresee crisis occurring?

If so, does the university have a duty to protect faculty, staff, students

and visitors?

“Assumption of Duty”

Once an actor, the university, assumes a duty not imposed by law, it is then bound to carry out the duty with reasonable care and is liable if it does not.

Examples

• 1993 Bombing of the World Trade Center (WTC)– January 2004, 175 law suits were

allowed to go to trial– 1984 one of the agencies who owned

the WTC warned that the site was vulnerable and a likely terrorist target

– The attacks were foreseeable since the agency created a committee and asked for a report

Examples

9/11 - Workers• 1,200 police officers, firefighters,

sanitation and demolition workers• They suffered injuries by breathing air

fouled by toxins and contaminants• Were not supplied proper respiratory

masks and protective equipment• Violated labor laws requiring that safety

gear be provided

Examples

9/11 – Those on the Ground• Boeing – Cockpit doors were not

substantial• Airlines – Duty to screen passengers• WTC – Had duty to design, construct,

repair and maintain the Twin Towers– Withstand spread of fire– Effective fire safety and evacuation

procedures.

Crisis Litigation

When an incident occurs the fundamental questions will be asked, who, what, when, where and why. By individuals, agencies, insurance companies, injured workers and third parties.

As in WTC personal liability lawsuits could ensue.

Summary

• Cal/OSHA• Azusa Development Code• APU Specific Plan• NFPA 1600• Worker’s Comp• FERPA• Duty

“People that behave best during a crisis are not those with the best plan but those

that are value-driven…. While tactical notions are very important in dealing

with a crisis, values provide a kind of enduring logic that

lends coherence to an organizations actions.”John Scanlon, Public Relations Executive