Mealey's Coronavirus
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July 27, 2022
High Court Approves Extension In Care Home Challenge To Remand Of COVID Death Suit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As circuit justice for the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan on July 12 granted a nursing home’s application for an extension until Aug. 29 to file a petition for writ of certiorari challenging the Ninth Circuit’s affirmance of a district court’s order remanding to state court a wrongful death suit filed by the family of a man who died in the nursing home after contracting COVID-19.
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July 26, 2022
4th Circuit Affirms No Coverage For Florida Restaurants’ Losses Arising From COVID-19
RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 25 affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal of Florida restaurant operators’ breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for their business losses stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, finding “no reversible error” in the lower court’s ruling.
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July 26, 2022
Clothing Boutique Owner Appeals Dismissal Of Coronavirus Coverage Dispute
NEW YORK — A clothing boutique owner on July 22 filed a notice of appeal to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals seeking reversal of a lower federal court’s dismissal of its breach of contract and declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking business interruption and property damage coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus and subsequent shutdown orders.
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July 26, 2022
Worker, Spouse Ask Calif. High Court To Find COVID-19 Exposure Case May Proceed
SAN FRANCISCO — California’s derivative injury doctrine does not bar a claim for COVID-19 exposure against an employer brought by an employee’s spouse, a worker and his wife argue in their petitioner brief filed July 22 in the California Supreme Court after the high court granted review of questions certified by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals concerning an employee’s exposure to COVID-19 at work and an employer’s responsibilities.
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July 25, 2022
Restaurant Owner Asks N.Y. High Court To Review Dismissal Of COVID-19 Coverage Suit
ALBANY, N.Y. — The owner and operator of numerous restaurants on July 12 moved in the New York Court of Appeals for leave to appeal the First Department New York Supreme Court Appellate Division’s ruling that affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of its commercial property coverage lawsuit arising from an alleged tens of millions of dollars in revenue loss prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that the issue on appeal “is indisputably of statewide, public importance, representing one of the most consequential insurance law questions to arise under New York law in decades.”
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July 22, 2022
Florida Judge Allows Specialty Coverage Claims To Proceed In Coronavirus Dispute
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida judge on July 20 held that an insured has asserted sufficient facts to demonstrate a claim for declaratory relief and breach of contract against certain defendant insurers regarding their policies’ specialty coverages for “Closings Due to Death or Disease” and “Cancellation of Bookings Due to Contagious or Infectious Disease” but dismissed with prejudice the insured’s claims that the coronavirus physically damaged its property.
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July 20, 2022
N.C. Panel: No Coverage For Rental Property Owner’s Losses Arising From COVID
RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina appeals panel on July 19 affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a residential rental property owner’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its financial losses resulting from Dare County’s prohibition on entry to the county by nonresident visitors in response to the coronavirus pandemic, rejecting the insured’s contention that the policy’s dwelling and loss of use coverage provisions were triggered.
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July 20, 2022
Insurer Moves For Judgment In Coverage Dispute With Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority
HARTFORD, Conn. — An insurer on July 13 moved for judgment one month after a Connecticut judge granted its motion to strike the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority’s breach of contract and bad faith complaint seek coverage for its economic losses arising from the closure of the insured’s operations because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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July 20, 2022
Panel: Contamination Exclusion Bars Time Element Loss Coverage In Coronavirus Suit
CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 6 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling that an insurance policy’s contamination exclusion bars coverage for a power-conveyance and energy management solutions provider’s lawsuit seeking coverage under the policy’s time element provision for its business interruption expenses related to the coronavirus, finding that the policy’s plain language demonstrates that the exclusion applies to the time element section.
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July 19, 2022
9th Circuit Affirms $16.6M Award For Costco’s COVID Dispute With Tickets Seller
PORTLAND, Ore. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 18 affirmed the confirmation of an arbitral award worth more than $16.6 million against a Canadian tickets provider in favor of Costco Wholesale Corp., which prevailed on claims that the provider kept millions of dollars in funds from Costco for tickets for events that were canceled, some of which had to be refunded.
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July 19, 2022
Frequent Flyer Asks Supreme Court To Invalidate Federal Transportation Mask Rule
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A frequent flyer challenging the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) mask mandate on July 5 filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of a District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling rejecting the flyer’s contention that the mask mandate exceeded the statutory authority Congress granted to the TSA.
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July 15, 2022
5th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Bad Faith Coverage Suit Arising From COVID-19
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 6 affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal of a business consulting company insured’s bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for its financial losses stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that the insureds have failed to assert the existence of a qualifying “communicable disease event."
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July 14, 2022
Panel Reverses Dismissal Of Business’s UCL Claim For Denied Coronavirus Coverage
LOS ANGELES — A California appellate panel July 13 reversed a trial court’s grant of an insurer’s demurrer to claims that it violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and breached an insurance policy by denying a claim for physical damage from the COVID-19 virus brought by a business forced to shut down during the pandemic, finding that the court improperly ruled based on its “disbelief” of the plaintiffs’ allegations.
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July 14, 2022
Names Added To Maine Vaccine Complaint After 1st Circuit Panel Denies Stay
BANGOR, Maine — Maine health care workers who as Does sued their employers and several state officials challenging the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate filed an amended complaint on July 11 in a federal court in Maine revealing their names after the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 7 denied their request for an emergency stay of the trial court’s disclosure order.
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July 14, 2022
6th Circuit Says Plaintiffs Lacked Standing To File Vaccine Suit For Military
CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 12 affirmed dismissal of a lawsuit challenging Food and Drug Administration actions involving two COVID-19 vaccines, agreeing that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring claims on behalf of the military.
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July 13, 2022
Fracking Company: Rehearing En Banc Needed In COVID-19, WARN Act Employment Case
NEW ORLEANS — A hydraulic fracturing services company on June 29 filed a petition in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals seeking rehearing en banc of a ruling that reversed a lower court and held that the company violated federal law when it terminated the employment of three workers during the COVID-19 pandemic without providing advanced notice.
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July 13, 2022
Worker To 6th Circuit: Vaccine Mandate Subject To Intermediate Scrutiny
CINCINNATI — A Michigan State University (MSU) employee challenging the school’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate policy for faculty, staff and students who have what the plaintiff describes as “naturally acquired immunity” argues in an appellant brief filed July 6 in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the trial court that dismissed her claims erred in subjecting the vaccine mandate to a rational basis review.
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July 13, 2022
Hospital Employees Voluntarily Dismiss Class Suit Over COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York on July 5 issued an order approving the voluntary dismissal of a putative class complaint by four hospital employees who were suspended or terminated for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine as required by a New York regulation.
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July 12, 2022
N.C. Panel Reverses Ruling In Restaurants’ Favor In Coronavirus Coverage Suit
RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina appeals panel on July 5 reversed a lower court’s grant of partial summary judgment in favor of restaurant insureds in a coronavirus coverage dispute, finding that governmental orders that temporarily restricted the scope of the insureds’ restaurant operations did not constitute direct physical loss or property damage to trigger coverage under their “all-risk” insurance policies.
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July 12, 2022
8th Circuit: Dental Practices Fail To Allege ‘Physicality’ In COVID-19 Coverage Suit
ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 7 affirmed a lower federal judge’s grant of insurers’ motion for judgment on the pleadings in a breach of contract and bad faith coverage lawsuit arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that the insureds limited their dental services as a precautionary measure and not because the coronavirus was present on their insured premises.