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

Mealey's Coronavirus

November 10, 2023
Suit By Law Student Claiming Fraudulent COVID-19 Data Led To Disenrollment Tossed

BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by a former law student who refused to get a school-mandated COVID-19 vaccination and who sought, among other relief, an order that Massachusetts state officials “make a public declaration and notice to all the Commonwealth’s news organizations in TV, radio, newspaper, and podcasts that . . . death counts from COVID-19 have been grossly exaggerated, and that the COVID-19 vaccine killed far more people than previously known” and enjoining all people in the state from administering COVID-19 vaccines.
November 10, 2023
Airline Pilot Files Complaint Seeking Disability Benefits For Long-Haul COVID-19

PHILADELPHIA — A disability insurer abused its discretion and breached its duty to a commercial airline pilot suffering from the effects of long-haul COVID-19 when it denied the pilot’s claim for long-term disability (LTD) benefits, the pilot claims in a complaint filed in Pennsylvania federal court.
November 08, 2023
Objectors Appeal $130,000 Settlement Approval In Hospital Vaccine Mandate Case

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Eight objectors filed a notice of appeal in a federal court in Michigan after final approval of a $130,000 settlement was granted in a class case by current and former hospital employees challenging their employer’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy.
November 07, 2023
Clinic That Denied Treatment To Unruly Patient With No Mask Renews Dismissal Motion

PORTLAND, Ore. — In a lawsuit by a former medical clinic patient against the clinic and some of its staff members alleging that their denial of treatment for his refusing to wear a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic was in violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and led to the exacerbation of a spinal injury that left him unable to work, the defendants on Nov. 6 moved to dismiss an amended complaint.
November 06, 2023
4th Circuit Tosses Appeal In COVID-19 Coverage Suit After Parties Agree To Dismiss

RICHMOND, Va. — One day after an insured and its insurer filed a stipulation of voluntary dismissal, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed the insured’s appeal of a Maryland federal court’s denial of its motion for leave to file a second amended complaint to address the standard for physical loss that was provided by the Maryland Supreme Court in answer to a certified question in a COVID-19 coverage dispute.
November 06, 2023
Airport Seeks Dismissal Of Pilot’s Suit Alleging Illegal Detainment For No Mask

SPOKANE, Wash. — In a lawsuit by an airline pilot 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, in which he alleged 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, the defendants moved for dismissal, contending that the complaint fails to state a viable claim.
November 03, 2023
Appeal Over COVID ‘Cure’ Claims To Continue Without Manufacturer After Bankruptcy

PASADENA, Calif. — An investor’s appeal of a federal judge’s dismissal of his putative class complaint against a pharmaceutical company and certain of its executives accusing them of falsely claiming that its COVID-19 treatment was a “cure” will proceed in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals without the pharmaceutical company after a clerk’s order lifted the automatic stay in the case initiated after the company’s bankruptcy.
November 02, 2023
Del. Court Denies Dismissal, Says Claims Against Rehab Don’t Fall Under PREP Act

NEW CASTLE, Del. — A Delaware state court denied dismissal to a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility in a wrongful death and negligence suit against it filed by the daughter of a woman who died after purportedly contracting COVID-19 at the facility, finding that the complaint was timely filed and that the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) does not provide immunity for the claims against the facility.
November 02, 2023
Briefing On Mootness Requested In California Physician COVID Misinformation Case

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In related lawsuits against California Gov. Gavin Newsom and several other state officials brought by California physicians, a physician advocacy group and a patient advocacy group claiming that a state statute allowing medical boards to discipline physicians for disseminating misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and treatments violates the First Amendment and is unconstitutionally vague, a California federal judge on Nov. 1 ordered the parties to submit supplemental briefs on mootness in light of the recent repeal of the legislation.
October 30, 2023
School District Seeks Summary Judgment Against Parent Critical Of COVID-19 Policy

DETROIT — In a lawsuit by a parent against a Michigan school district and individual school board members stemming from the board members’ responses to the parent’s criticism of the school district’s COVID-19 policy, the district and board members moved for summary judgment, contending that the board members’ conduct in response to the parent’s behavior did not violate the parent’s First Amendment free speech rights and is itself protected by the First Amendment.
October 30, 2023
Force Majeure Provision Does Not Excuse Rent Payment, Panel Says In Coronavirus Suit

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s ruling that an appellant cannot recoup rent payments for periods during which it was prevented from operating its indoor health and fitness facility due to the government orders in response to the coronavirus pandemic, rejecting the appellant’s argument that the commercial lease's force majeure provision excused it from paying rent.
October 30, 2023
U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Hear Maine Health Workers’ COVID-19 Vaccine Challenge

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A petition for a writ of certiorari by Maine health care workers fired for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine citing religious beliefs was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 30.
October 26, 2023
7th Circuit Approves Make-Whole Remedy In NLRB Pandemic Response Case

CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals approved a stipulation and proposed consent order in a pandemic response case between the National Labor Relations Board and a Wisconsin salon business under which the business will make the charging party whole and pay the NLRB’s attorney fees and expenses.
October 25, 2023
Fee Award Denied In Dismissed ‘Impossible To Adjudicate’ COVID-19 Testing Row

NEWARK, N.J. — Following dismissal with prejudice of a medical practice’s Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over payment for COVID-19 tests, a New Jersey federal magistrate judge on Oct. 24 denied an insurer’s request for attorney fees and costs.
October 25, 2023
8th Circuit Refuses To Reconsider Remand Of Coronavirus Coverage Suit

ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 24 denied an insurer’s petition seeking rehearing or rehearing en banc of its Sept. 11 ruling that reversed and remanded a coronavirus coverage ruling for an Iowa federal court to determine whether federal diversity jurisdiction exists.
October 25, 2023
Bank Workers Fired For Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine Appeal Summary Judgment

NEW YORK — Two former employees of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) who were fired after refusing to follow a COVID-19 vaccination policy based on religious beliefs filed a notice on Oct. 24 that they are appealing a ruling by a federal judge in New York granting summary judgment to FRBNY.
October 25, 2023
Del. Court: Worker Contracted COVID-19 On The Job, But Disease Isn’t Occupational

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Perdue Farms Inc. employee showed that he contracted COVID-19 at the Perdue plant but failed to show that his illness was an occupational disease pursuant to the Delaware Worker’s Compensation Act (WCA), a Delaware judge ruled, affirming a decision by the Industrial Accident Board denying the worker’s petition to determine compensation due.
October 24, 2023
PPP Loan Recipient Seeks Dismissal Of False Claims Act Suit By Former Employee

SAN DIEGO — In a lawsuit brought on behalf of the United States under the False Claims Act (FCA) by a financial officer alleging that the company that formerly employed him received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan during the COVID-19 pandemic by altering or misrepresenting its payroll records, the company moved to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim and pursuant to the FCA’s public disclosure bar.
October 23, 2023
Georgia Federal Magistrate Judge Limits Testimony On Source Of COVID-19 Infection

SAVANNAH, Ga. — An expert can testify that a longshoreman did not contract COVID-19 while aboard a vessel but he cannot opine on alternative sources of infection, a federal magistrate judge in Georgia ruled.
October 23, 2023
Military Members’ Vaccine Cases Dismissed After Undisclosed Costs Settlement

TAMPA, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida in an Oct. 20 docket entry dismissed with prejudice two complaints by military members challenging a COVID-19 vaccine mandate; the order was filed one day after the parties filed a joint stipulation of dismissal after reaching an undisclosed settlement on costs.
October 23, 2023
5th Circuit Affirms Refusal To Remand And Dismissal Of Coronavirus Coverage Suit

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s denial of insureds’ motion to remand a coronavirus coverage dispute and its grant of the commercial property insurer’s motion to dismiss a breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that the insureds failed to plausibly plead that the coronavirus caused direct physical damage to their insured property.
October 20, 2023
En Banc Review Denied To COVID-19 Test Provider Seeking Reimbursement From Insurer

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for rehearing en banc sought by a COVID-19 test provider after a panel of the court affirmed the judgment of a California federal court dismissing five complaints brought by the provider seeking reimbursement from an insurer for COVID testing services under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
October 20, 2023
Miss. Federal Judge: Tribal Remedies Must Be Exhausted Before Filing Federal Suit

NORTHERN JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi federal judge stayed claims brought by two men regarding a COVID-19 mask mandate enforced by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (MBCI) at one of the tribe’s casinos because the men failed to exhaust their tribal court remedies before bringing their action in federal court.
October 20, 2023
Interim Class Counsel Appointed In Amazon COVID-19 Screenings Case

FRESNO, Calif. — A federal judge in California appointed Hodges & Foty LLP interim class counsel in a case by employees accusing Amazon.com Services LLC of failing to pay workers for time spent undergoing COVID-19 symptom screenings before their shifts.
October 20, 2023
9th Circuit Requests Briefing On Mootness In Challenge To COVID Misinformation Law

SAN FRANCISCO — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a per curiam order directed the parties in a lawsuit challenging California’s medical professional COVID-19 misinformation law to file supplemental briefs within 14 days on the question of whether California Senate Bill 815 (SB 815) rendered the case moot.