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

Mealey's Coronavirus

June 20, 2023
PPP Recipient Says SBA Exceeded Statutory Authority In Denying Loan Forgiveness

AMARILLO, Texas — In an action brought by a truck dealer against the federal government seeking forgiveness for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, the dealer moved for summary judgment, contending that the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) decision that the dealer was not initially eligible for a PPP loan and thus ineligible for loan forgiveness exceeded and was contrary to its statutory authority.
June 14, 2023
N.J. Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurers’ Favor In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey appeals court on June 13 affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of primary and excess insurers in insureds’ lawsuit seeking coverage for its business losses arising from governmental orders closing the operation of their boardwalk amusement and entertainment businesses in response to the coronavirus, finding that the insureds did not satisfy the coverage prerequisite that they incurred “direct physical loss or damage” to their property and coverage is separately barred under the policies' pollution/contamination exclusion.
June 13, 2023
Split 10th Circuit: Ski Resort Passholders May Refile Claims For COVID-19 Closure

DENVER — A split 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed in part and vacated in part a federal court’s dismissal of season passholders’ lawsuit against ski resort owners for refusing to refund their purchases after abruptly ending the season due to COVID-19, finding that while the resort-owners’ contracts prohibit refunds, the passholders may refile several claims, including for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), to seek “relief not expressly barred by the contracts.”
June 13, 2023
Florida Panel: Tribe Not Shown To Have Waived Immunity From COVID-Related Tort Claim

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida appellate court granted the Seminole Tribe’s petition to prohibit a trial court from proceeding with a negligence claim brought by a patron who said he contracted COVID-19 at the tribe’s casino, finding that the patron failed to demonstrate that the tribe waived sovereign immunity because the patron failed to follow the pre-suit procedures laid out in the compact in which the tribe waived its sovereign immunity for tort claims committed at its gaming facilities.
June 08, 2023
Health Supply Company Seeks Default Judgment In Suit For Undelivered COVID Tests

MIAMI — A Pennsylvania health and safety supply company that sued a Florida personal protective equipment dealer for breach of contract and quantum meruit/unjust enrichment and sought to recover a $225,000 deposit the supply company paid toward a $5.5 million order for undelivered COVID-19 home antigen tests moved June 7 for default judgment after the dealer’s counsel withdrew from the case and was not replaced by the date required by a Florida federal court.
June 06, 2023
California Judge Enters Judgment On Special Jury Verdict In Insurer’s Favor

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge entered judgment on a jury’s special verdict in favor of a commercial property insurer in the insureds’ breach of contract coverage lawsuit arising from the coronavirus pandemic after the jury found last month that SARS-CoV-2 did not cause any direct physical loss or damage to the insureds’ hotel on or before June 1, 2020.
June 06, 2023
Judge Dismisses Tulane’s Suit Seeking Coverage For Losses Arising From Coronavirus

NEW ORLEANS — Three days after the administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund filed a stipulation of dismissal, a federal judge in New Orleans on June 5 dismissed the fund’s declaratory judgment and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for its medical catastrophe expense (MCE) claim and evacuation expenses (EE) resulting from the COVID-19 virus.
June 05, 2023
Federal Employee Union Seeks Summary Judgment In Vaccine Mandate Suit

GALVESTON, Texas — A federal employee union that sued the president and other federal officials over a September 2021 executive order (EO) requiring federal workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 or obtain a religious or medical exemption to retain employment filed a reply brief on June 3 in a federal court in Texas supporting their motion for partial summary judgment and permanent injunctive relief.
June 05, 2023
Health Care System Insured Fails To State Claim Above $1M Already Received, Panel Says

CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 2 held that a Wisconsin-based health care system insured did not state a claim for coverage beyond the $1 million it already received under its all-risks insurance policy’s limited coverage provision for communicable diseases, affirming a lower court’s ruling in favor of the insurer in a coverage dispute over the insured’s alleged $85 million in losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
June 05, 2023
Case Management Order Issued In $8M Aetna Fraud Suit Against COVID Test Provider

GREENBELT, Md. — A Maryland federal magistrate judge on June 5 issued an order requiring parties to obtain consent before filing any motion in Aetna’s insurance fraud, unjust enrichment and negligent misrepresentation suit against a testing supplies provider and related parties, asserting that they participated in a scheme to improperly bill Aetna for more than $8 million for over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 testing supplies, resulting in higher reimbursements from Aetna’s Employee Retirement Income Security Act plans.
June 02, 2023
No Coverage Owed For Horse Racing Track Owner’s COVID-19 Losses, Panel Affirms

PHOENIX — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 1 affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal of a horse racing track owner’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that the contamination exclusion unambiguously bars coverage.
May 31, 2023
Seattle Jury Issues Verdict For Nursing Home In Negligence Suit Over COVID Deaths

SEATTLE — A Washington federal court jury issued a verdict in favor of a nursing home sued by two estates representing decedents who died in 2020 after contracting COVID-19 at the facility, finding that while the nursing home acted negligently regarding its care of one of the decedents, neither estate representative proved that its negligence caused injuries to the estate representatives or decedents.
May 31, 2023
California Panel: Insured’s Direct Physical Loss Claims Are ‘Mere Legal Conclusions’

SAN DIEGO — A California appeals panel on May 30 affirmed a lower court’s grant of a commercial property insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in a coverage dispute arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that it is clear that the causes of the insured’s business losses are not attributable to the presence of the coronavirus on its premises but are the purported result of “certain government orders, community infection, and assumption that the virus is ubiquitous.”
May 31, 2023
BYU Student Seeks Rehearing After Class Cert Denial In Pandemic Case Upheld

DENVER — A Brigham Young University (BYU) student filed a petition for rehearing after a divided 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that a trial court “acted within its discretionary bounds” when it denied class certification in the student’s lawsuit over the school’s failure to provide partial refunds of tuition and fees after classes were switched to online-only during the coronavirus pandemic.
May 31, 2023
Music School, Student Seek To Settle Pandemic Closure Class Suit For $399,999

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted preliminary approval of a $399,999 class settlement in a complaint brought by a student of The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) after the school halted in-person classes due to the coronavirus pandemic.
May 31, 2023
University Agrees Florida High Court Should Review Sovereign Immunity Appeal

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The University of Florida’s board of trustees, which concurs in a graduate student’s request that the Florida Supreme Court accept discretionary review of a sovereign immunity question in pandemic closure putative class case, filed a third notice of supplemental authority concerning a recent opinion by a state appellate court panel.
May 26, 2023
Library: Trial Court Properly Found No ADA Violations In Masking Policy Challenge

SAN FRANCISCO — In a library patron’s appeal of a Washington federal judge’s dismissal of a city and its police officers and grant of summary judgment to a library district in the patron’s claim of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other civil rights violations stemming from the patron’s refusal to wear a mask in a library and the response of the police and library staff, the library district filed its answering brief, arguing that the district court correctly ruled that the patron failed to establish all the necessary elements of a successful ADA claim.
May 26, 2023
Injunctions Dissolved, Dismissal Granted In 2 Military Members’ Vaccine Cases

TAMPA, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida filed an order dissolving three preliminary injunctions issued in two complaints by military members challenging a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, decertifying a class of marines in one of the cases and dismissing as moot both of the actions in accordance with an April indicative ruling.
May 24, 2023
Parties Stipulate To Dismissal Of Suit Over COVID-Era New York City Severance Law

NEW YORK — After the parties fully briefed an interlocutory appeal regarding a New York City law enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 23 enacted a stipulation withdrawing the appeal and the parties stipulated in New York federal court to voluntary dismissal of the case with prejudice.
May 22, 2023
Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Consolidated Class Actions Seeking Coronavirus Coverage

SEATTLE — In three rulings, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 19 affirmed a Washington federal judge’s ruling that granted insurers’ motion to dismiss consolidated class actions brought by western Washington businesses seeking coverage for lost income stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, agreeing that COVID-19 does not cause the physical loss or damage to the insureds’ property that is required to trigger coverage.
May 22, 2023
Settlement Reached In Suit Alleging Lender Improperly Denied Loan Modification

CLEVELAND — An Ohio federal judge agreed to dismiss a complaint alleging that a mortgage lender failed to allow a loan modification after borrowers fell delinquent because of circumstances connected to the COVID-19 pandemic after the parties agreed to a confidential settlement.
May 22, 2023
4th Amended Complaint Filed In Wells Fargo COVID-19 Mortgage Forbearance Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — A group of homeowners who sued Wells Fargo for allegedly putting their residential mortgages into forbearance without their consent during the COVID-19 pandemic on May 19 filed a fourth amended complaint in response to an order on the lender’s motion to dismiss.
May 22, 2023
NYC Workers’ Vaccine Class Case Renewed Application Denied By SCOTUS

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A renewed application by a nonprofit and current and former New York City workers for a stay of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate was denied May 22 by the U.S. Supreme Court.
May 19, 2023
Dance Teacher, Husband Appeal Dismissal Of Bias Claims In Pandemic Dispute

NEWARK, N.J. — A dance teacher and her husband who allege that the teacher was improperly fired after opposing training that she said promoted critical race theory (CRT) and seeking accommodations from vaccine and back-to-work requirements due to the coronavirus pandemic filed a notice of appeal after a federal judge in New Jersey dismissed their claims.
May 19, 2023
2nd Circuit: Shareholders’ COVID-19 Vaccine Misstatements Suit Properly Dismissed

NEW YORK — AstraZeneca PLC shareholders who accused the company and executives of making material misstatements regarding testing of a COVID-19 vaccine failed to “adequately [plead] falsity or facts fiving rise to a strong inference of scienter,” a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming dismissal of the complaint.