STORY:
Senate Passes Y2K Lawsuit Bill

But White House is threatening to veto bill limiting damages from Y2K bug

The Senate passed the Y2K Lawsuit bill that supporters said could save the economy from an onslaught of lawsuits against companies in connection with Year 2000 computer problems.

But the White House has threatened a veto, saying the bill gives too little protection to consumers. And it's likely, the veto could stick because the Senate voted 62-37 vote which is five votes short of the two-thirds that would be needed to override such a veto.

The bill encourages mediation and gives companies 90 days to fix year 2000 computer problems before they can be taken to court. It puts limits on class action lawsuits and tries to stifle the practice of targeting big rich companies for lawsuits by saying that in most cases defendants are responsible only for the share of the damage they cause. Punitive damage caps are set for small companies.

But according to the Associated Press, the Clinton administration says the bill is still unacceptable because it weakens the rights of consumers to recover losses and would discourage companies from fixing computers that misread the 2000 date for the year 1900.

A House Y2K litigation bill that passed last month is even more problematic to the White House. The House bill provides punitive damage caps to all defendants that make a good faith effort to fix computers, not just small companies. It makes it easier for a defendant to be eligible to pay only a proportional share of damages and has a loser-pays provision.

Source: Associated Press / USA Today

DATE: 6/18/99

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