Mealey's Coronavirus : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Coronavirus

August 09, 2023
NYU’s Rehearing Petition Denied By 2nd Circuit After Pandemic Closure Ruling

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit denied a petition for rehearing en banc filed by New York University (NYU) after a split panel ruled that a parent of an NYU student who filed a putative class complaint against the school over its closure in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic lacks standing to bring her claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment and money had and received but that the district court erred in denying the filing of an amended complaint to add a current student.
August 08, 2023
Panel: Louisville Restaurant Owner Fails To Allege Loss In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

FRANKFORT, Ky. — A Kentucky appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer in a Louisville restaurant insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its lost income when it limited operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, finding the insured failed to assert a “loss” as defined by the policy.
August 08, 2023
California Appellate Panel Issues Ruling On Pandemic Work-From-Home Expenses

SAN FRANCISCO — A California trial court erred when it sustained an employer’s demurrer and found that the employer was absolved of liability for reimbursing workers for their expenses while working from home due to a stay-at-home order issued by the governor during the coronavirus pandemic, a First District California Court of Appeal panel ruled.
August 07, 2023
Connecticut Judge Rules For Insurer In Coronavirus Coverage Dispute

HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut judge granted a business owner insurer’s motion for summary judgment in its insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, rejecting the insured’s argument that the adhesion of coronavirus-infected respiratory droplets to its property caused direct physical loss or damage.
August 04, 2023
Airline Pilot Alleges That He Was Illegally Detained At Airport For Lacking Mask

SPOKANE, Wash. — An airline pilot filed suit in Washington federal court against an airport and airport police officers who attempted to enforce the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) COVID-19 masking policy as the pilot passed through security on the way to his flight, alleging that he was racially profiled and unlawfully detained and that the officers illegally failed to recognize an exemption to masking requirements he had by virtue of being an airline pilot.
August 04, 2023
Magistrate Again Dismisses Suit Against Google For Remote Schooling Hack

OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal magistrate judge dismissed several claims brought against Google LLC by a minor child who claims that Google invaded his privacy while he was required to use a Google platform for remote schooling during COVID-19 and failed to prevent a hack of his computer device that resulted in a sexually explicit message being sent to his teacher.
August 04, 2023
Federal Judge Grants University’s Motion To Remand Coronavirus Coverage Dispute

SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington granted The Board of Regents of the University of Washington’s motion to remand its breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for the alleged losses to its medical and athletic properties arising out of the coronavirus pandemic, finding that for the purposes of diversity jurisdiction, the university is an “arm of the state.”
August 03, 2023
11th Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment For University In Pandemic Closure Class Case

ATLANTA — A University of Miami student who filed a putative class complaint seeking partial refunds after all schooling was transitioned to online learning in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic failed to show that she was “entitled to damages stemming from any alleged breach of contract, unjust enrichment, or inadequate refunds on the part of” the school, an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming a trial court’s summary judgment ruling for the university.
August 03, 2023
Unsuccessful Challengers To TSA COVID-19 Mask Rule Seek Supreme Court Review

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two airline passengers who challenged the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) enforcement of the federal transportation mask mandate filed a joint petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a per curiam opinion of the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denying the passengers’ petition for review because the masking regulations had expired and thus any challenge to a reinstated mask policy would require a new administrative record.
August 01, 2023
Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Medical Provider’s COVID-19 Suit

PORTLAND, Ore. — After the Oregon Supreme Court declined to answer a certified question in a coronavirus coverage dispute, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 31 reassumed jurisdiction and concluded that the Oregon high court would interpret the phrase “direct physical loss or damage” to require physical alteration of the insured property and affirmed a federal court’s finding that a medical provider insured failed to state a claim for coverage for its losses arising from the pandemic.
August 01, 2023
Pilots Appeal Dismissal Ruling In Vaccine Mandate Putative Class Complaint

BAY CITY, Mich. — Cargo airline pilots whose putative class complaint against their employer challenging a COVID-19 vaccine mandate was partially dismissed by a federal judge in Michigan as preempted by the Railway Labor Act (RLA) filed a notice of appeal to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
July 27, 2023
Class Suit Accuses Company Of Misstating Growth Of COVID-19 Related Businesses

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A company that manufactures and distributes diagnostic test and research tools that were used in the effort to combat the coronavirus hid information regarding the severity of its revenue decline as the COVID-19 pandemic subsided, an investor alleges in a putative class complaint filed in federal court in the District of Columbia.
July 27, 2023
Prisoner Class Must Respond To Mandamus Petition In Vaccine Distribution Case

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ordered prisoners suing over Oregon’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout to file an answer to the state’s petition for a writ of mandamus, which challenges a trial court’s order compelling the deposition of the former governor.
July 26, 2023
9th Circuit: Employer Not Liable For Employee’s Spouse’s Case Of COVID-19

SAN FRANCISCO — California law does not impose a duty of care on employers to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to employees’ spouses and other household members, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled July 25 following a ruling by the California Supreme Court addressing two questions certified by the appellate panel.
July 24, 2023
No Coverage Owed For Gas Station’s Losses Arising From Coronavirus, Panel Affirms

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal of a gas station owner insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its economic losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, concluding that the virus exclusion bars coverage because COVID-19 “is the efficient proximate cause” of the insured’s purported losses.
July 24, 2023
Federal Government Asks High Court To Take Up Vaccine Injunction Question

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court should grant certiorari, vacate judgment by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a case concerning a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal workers and remand with instructions for the trial court to vacate its preliminary injunction as moot as the executive order (EO) regarding the vaccine mandate has already been revoked, the federal government argues in its July 21 petition for a writ of certiorari.
July 21, 2023
Dismissal Reversed; Question In University Pandemic Closure Suit Certified

NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 20 reversed in light of King v. Baylor University the dismissal of a Southern Methodist University (SMU) student’s putative class claim for breach of contract brought after the school transferred to online learning due to the coronavirus and certified to the Texas Supreme Court a question concerning the student’s claim for monetary relief.
July 20, 2023
Federal Judge Allows Detainees’ Pandemic Cleaner Poisoning Claims To Proceed

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Putative class claims first filed in March by detainees who say they were poisoned by a cleaning solution the facility operator used multiple times an hour between February 2020 and April 2021 as a purported safety measure against COVID-19 “fall within the heartland of delayed discovery cases,” a federal judge in California ruled, denying a motion to partially dismiss the complaint based on the purported applicable statute of limitations.
July 19, 2023
School Requiring COVID Vaccination Seeks To Dismiss Religious Discrimination Suit

HANNIBAL, Mo. — A private Missouri health sciences university moved to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a former medical student alleging breach of contract and violations of Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Missouri state law against religious discrimination after she withdrew from the university because of its requirement that she be vaccinated for COVID-19 to participate in a clinical rotation.
July 18, 2023
Fitness Company Seeks To Dismiss Gym Fee Dispute Stemming From COVID Lockdowns

LOS ANGELES — A fitness and health company and its wholly owned subsidiary moved to dismiss a putative class complaint brought by a gym member alleging breach of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing, negligent representation and violations of California law in continuing to charge fees for gym memberships during COVID-19 lockdowns when the gyms could not be accessed, contending that the statute of limitations had run on most of the claims and that the claim of negligent misrepresentation was inadequately pleaded.
July 18, 2023
Insurers Allowed To Appeal Coronavirus Coverage Dispute To Pennsylvania High Court

PITTSBURGH — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted insurers’ petition to appeal a majority of the Pennsylvania Superior Court’s ruling that, at the very least, it is reasonable to interpret the phrase “direct physical loss of . . . property” to encompass the loss of use of a dental practice’s property due to the spread of the coronavirus “absent any actual damage to property.”
July 18, 2023
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Allows Tavern Owner To Appeal COVID-19 Coverage Suit

PITTSBURGH — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted a Pittsburgh tavern owner insured’s petition for allowance to appeal a Pennsylvania Superior Court reversal of a lower court’s ruling in its favor in a coronavirus coverage dispute, challenging the Superior Court’s finding that “the policy does not cover mere loss of use of commercial property unaccompanied by physical alteration or other condition immanent in the property that renders the property itself unusable or uninhabitable.”
July 17, 2023
Panel Refuses To Depart From ‘Overwhelming Weight Of Authority’ In COVID-19 Suit

CHICAGO — An Illinois panel held that there was no evidence that an insured incurred direct physical loss or damage required to trigger commercial insurance coverage for its business income losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic and government shutdown orders, noting that Illinois courts have consistently concluded “that economic loss sustained during the pandemic did not constitute ‘physical loss of’ or ‘physical damage’ to property under the commercial insurance policies.”
July 14, 2023
6th Circuit Affirms Remand In COVID Death Suit, Says No PREP Act Preemption

CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s remand of a negligence and COVID-19 wrongful death suit to state court, finding that the nursing home defendants failed to establish preemption under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act by not providing evidence of a federal agency delegating authority to the defendants to act on the agency’s behalf.
July 14, 2023
6th Circuit: University’s Vaccine Mandate Didn’t Violate Workers’ Rights

CINCINNATI — Michigan State University’s (MSU) vaccine mandate for employees did not violate their constitutional rights and was not preempted by federal law, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled July 13, affirming a trial court’s ruling.