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Mealey's Coronavirus

December 07, 2023
COMMENTARY: Fire & Rain: 2023 Key Decisions & Developments Impacting The Wide World Of Insurance

By Scott M. Seaman, Pedro E. Hernandez and Lisa M. Roccanova
December 11, 2023
U.S. High Court Grants Cert In Federal Vaccine Cases, Finds Case, Injunctions Moot

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 11 granted petitions in three cases concerning various federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates and, citing United States v. Munsingwear, Inc., remanded with instructions to dismiss one of the cases as moot and to vacate as moot preliminary injunctions in the other two cases.
December 08, 2023
Moderna: Pfizer Seeking ‘Two Bites At The Invalidity Apple’ With Patent Challenge

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A petition by Pfizer Inc. for inter partes review (IPR) of a Moderna TX Inc. patent directed to the messenger RNA technology used in the COVID-19 vaccine is a “transparent” effort to “double-dip,” Moderna says in a Dec. 7 preliminary patent owner response filed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
December 07, 2023
Health Workers’ Vaccine Case Discontinued After New York Mandate Repealed

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York signed off on the discontinuance of a case previously appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court by health care workers challenging the New York Department of Health’s (DOH) COVID-19 vaccination requirements after the mandate was repealed.
December 04, 2023
Airline Pilot’s Suit Alleging Illegal Detainment At Airport For No Mask Dismissed

SPOKANE, Wash. — A Washington federal judge on Dec. 1 granted the motion of an airport and airport police officers seeking to dismiss the amended complaint of an airline pilot who alleged that he was racially profiled and unlawfully detained by the officers in their attempt to enforce the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) COVID-19 masking policy as the pilot passed through security on the way to his flight.
December 01, 2023
New York Panel Reverses, Dismisses All Claims In COVID Suit Against Nursing Home

ALBANY, N.Y. — A New York appellate court on Nov. 30 reversed a lower court decision that denied a nursing home’s motion to dismiss all claims against it in an estate executor’s suit after a decedent’s COVID-19-related death at the facility, finding that the nursing home was entitled to immunity pursuant to a since-repealed New York state law that provided protections to health care providers related to their treatment of persons during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
November 30, 2023
Mental Health Facility Alleges Illegal Denial Of PPP Loan Forgiveness By SBA

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A mental health treatment facility filed a complaint seeking de novo review of a decision of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and challenging the legitimacy of the SBA and its appeal process after the SBA denied forgiveness for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan on the grounds that an owner of the facility had defaulted on another SBA loan.
November 30, 2023
Gym Fee Dispute Stemming From COVID-19 Lockdowns Dismissed Without Prejudice

SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge on Nov. 29 granted the motions of a fitness and health company and its wholly owned subsidiary gym network and a health insurer 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.
November 29, 2023
BU Trustees Ask 1st Circuit To Affirm Pandemic Closure Ruling

BOSTON — A trial court properly entered summary judgment for Boston University trustees in a putative class complaint brought by students after in-person classes transitioned to online-only in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic as the school, like the University of Rhode Island in Burt v. Board of Trustees of the University of Rhode Island, “suffered financial loss rather than profit from the transition to remote instruction, and thus that Plaintiffs cannot prove restitution damages as a matter of law,” the trustees argue in their appellee brief filed Nov. 28 in the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
November 29, 2023
Mediation Ordered In COVID-19 Pandemic Hydroxychloroquine Sales Contract Dispute

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge on Nov. 28 ordered parties to enter mediation in a case in which a pharmaceutical supplier alleged that a manufacturer breached a contract for the purchase of large quantities of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine phosphate for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 in failing to provide refunds for unpurchased products and to indemnify the supplier against claims by a governmental customer that the prices set by the manufacturer violated state law.
November 29, 2023
Judge Denies Hospital’s Dismissal Motion In FCA Suit Over COVID Testing Scheme

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge denied dismissal motions filed by a hospital, the administrator of its lab and the lab’s medical director and affiliated company in a relator’s qui tam suit alleging that they violated the federal False Claims Act (FCA) and Illinois state laws by submitting for reimbursement to government insurers claims for unnecessary testing for COVID-19 and other unrelated conditions, finding that the relator “plausibly alleged materiality” regarding the purported “overbilling scheme.”
November 28, 2023
No Coverage Owed For Clothing Retailer’s COVID-19 Losses, N.C. Panel Affirms

RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of an insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that the insured failed to allege a tangible alteration to its more than 1,300 clothing stores to trigger coverage.
November 28, 2023
Law Student Blaming COVID-19 Data Fraud For Disenrollment Appeals Dismissal

BOSTON — A former law student who alleged that his disenrollment from law school resulted from his refusal to be vaccinated pursuant to a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy that was implemented based on fraudulent COVID-19 data submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by officials of Massachusetts and other states filed a notice of appeal in a Massachusetts federal court after the case was dismissed for lack of standing.
November 28, 2023
No Coverage Owed For COVID-19 Losses Under Pollution Policy, Court Says

NEW YORK — No coverage is owed for business interruption losses caused by the coronavirus because the virus is not a pollution condition and does not constitute an indoor environmental condition as defined in the pollution and remediation policy, a New York appellate panel said in affirming a trial court’s ruling.
November 27, 2023
Ind. High Court: Statute Precluding Pandemic Closure Class Action Constitutional

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana statute barring class claims against covered entities, including a university, stemming from alleged losses due to the coronavirus pandemic is constitutional, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled.
November 20, 2023
University: Trial Court Abused Its Discretion With Class Cert In Closure Suit

ATLANTA — The grant of class certification in a lawsuit by the parent of an Emory University student who seeks money back after classes and services were impacted due to the coronavirus pandemic was an abuse of discretion as the parent failed to show that common questions predominate or that class action is superior, the university argues in an appellant brief filed in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
November 20, 2023
Judge Issues Opinion Reaffirming Order In Landlord’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York issued an opinion reaffirming its Sept. 29 order granting a commercial property insurer’s motion for summary judgment in a coronavirus coverage suit, finding that a commercial landlord insured failed to meet the contractual prerequisites to recover under the insurance policy’s two communicable disease provisions.
November 17, 2023
Nationstar Granted Dismissal Of Claims That It Unjustly Denied COVID-19 Aid

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A federal judge in Pennsylvania granted a loan servicer’s motion to dismiss putative class claims accusing it of denying a borrower a COVID-19 loss mitigation option on the ground that it would not have reduced the principal and interest portions of his Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage, opining in a footnote that the borrower failed to “adequately plead a violation.”
November 17, 2023
Calif. Panel: COVID-19 Closures Did Not Toll Trial Deadline For Construction Case

SAN FRANCISCO — Courtroom closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic did not toll the five-year deadline for commencing a civil trial because the failure to begin the trial in a construction defects action was caused by the two homeowners’ lack of diligence, a California appeals panel found in affirming eight mandatory dismissal orders entered by the trial court.
November 16, 2023
Policy’s Virus Exclusion Bars Coverage For Coronavirus Losses, 9th Circuit Affirms

PHOENIX — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 15 held that an insured failed to plausibly allege that anything other than the COVID-19 pandemic is the efficient proximate cause of its losses, affirming a federal court’s dismissal of the insured’s commercial insurance coverage lawsuit.
November 15, 2023
BYU Student’s Class Certification Refile Request Denied In Pandemic Closure Case

SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge in Utah denied a motion by a Brigham Young University (BYU) student to file a renewed motion for class certification in a lawsuit over the school’s failure to provide partial refunds of tuition and fees after classes were switched to online-only during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the student’s only provided reason was that his previous motion was rejected.
November 14, 2023
2nd Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of NYC DOE Workers’ COVID-19 Vaccine Class Suit

NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Nov. 13 affirmed dismissal of a putative class complaint by New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) employees challenging the department’s COVID-19 vaccine requirements and the procedures for enforcing the mandate, finding that the workers “have not pleaded any facts that would suggest that the pre- or post-deprivation processes afforded to them were constitutionally deficient.”
November 13, 2023
U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Hear Nurses’ Appeal Over N.J. COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 13 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by New Jersey nurses concerning a COVID-19 vaccine mandate and whether a dispute over a preliminary injunction denial became moot once the mandate was rescinded.
November 13, 2023
Reserve Information In COVID-19 Coverage Suit Not Relevant To Bad Faith Claim

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal magistrate judge denied an insured’s motion to compel documents related to the reserve set by an insurer in response to the insured’s claim for business losses sustained in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic after determining that the reserve information is not relevant to the insured’s bad faith claim because only a nominal reserve was set by the insurer and no changes were made to the reserve since the coverage claim was filed.
November 10, 2023
University Of Delaware’s $6.3 Million Pandemic Closure Class Settlement Approved

WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware granted final approval of a $6.3 million settlement to be paid by the University of Delaware to end a class complaint by students seeking reimbursements after the school closed most campus buildings and switched to online learning due to the coronavirus pandemic.