Mealey's Coronavirus
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January 08, 2025
$52.8 Million Settlement Approved In New York City Prison Confinement Case
NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted final approval of a more than $52.8 million settlement between New York City and prisoners who alleged that they were housed in “stealth isolation confinement facilities indefinitely” and denied due process.
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January 08, 2025
Hydroxychloroquine Maker Says Supplier’s Amended Complaint Not What Court Approved
TRENTON, N.J. — A pharmaceutical manufacturer on Jan. 7 requested that a New Jersey federal court grant a pre-motion conference in anticipation of the manufacturer’s motion to strike a pharmaceutical supplier’s second amended complaint (SAC) in connection with its purchase of large quantities of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine phosphate from the manufacturer, contending that the SAC did not comply with the court’s order granting leave to file it, which was issued in connection with a grant of judgment on the pleadings in favor of the manufacturer on three of the supplier’s original five counts.
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January 08, 2025
Judge Refuses To Reconsider Dismissal Of Philadelphia Eagles’ Coverage Dispute
PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge denied the owner and operator of the Philadelphia Eagles football organization’s motion to reconsider the dismissal of its action seeking a declaration as to coverage for its losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, rejecting the insured’s contention that the present lawsuit “is unlike any other that already has been decided and warrants proceeding past a motion to dismiss.”
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January 07, 2025
Federal Trade Commission Announces Refund Process For Bogus COVID-19 Treatments
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission on Jan. 6 announced a refund process for consumers who purchased treatment plans for COVID-19, cancer and Parkinson’s disease, which the FTC says were deceptively marketed by Golden Sunrise Nutraceutical Inc.; some of them were priced at as much as $200,000.
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January 06, 2025
Ex-Employee Fired For Refusing COVID Vaccine Amends Discrimination Complaint
PORTLAND, Ore. — A former employee of a sportswear company who was terminated after declining a company-mandated COVID-19 vaccination filed an amended complaint alleging that her employer failed to make a good faith effort to accommodate her religious beliefs, dropping a medical disability-based claim that was dismissed by an Oregon federal judge pursuant to the employer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.
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January 03, 2025
Standing Is Among Issues Raised In Motion To Dismiss ERISA Suit Over Surcharges
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Arguing in part that the plaintiffs lack standing, a company sued over surcharges imposed on participants in its self-funded health plan for tobacco use and for failing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 has moved in North Carolina federal court for dismissal.
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January 03, 2025
11th Circuit Denies Rehearing In Remanded Assisted Living COVID Wrongful Death Case
ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has denied an assisted living facility’s petition for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc of a split panel decision affirming a judgment of a Florida federal court remanding to state court a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the personal representatives of a woman who died from COVID-19 while under the care of the facility.
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December 23, 2024
2nd Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Kodak Shareholder Derivative Action
NEW YORK — The dismissal of a shareholder derivative action alleging that a company’s officers and directors enriched themselves at the company’s expense when they conducted a series of stock transactions was upheld by the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, with the panel finding that the plaintiff shareholders had waived their challenge to the lower court’s factual findings in the case.
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December 16, 2024
PPE Reseller Says No Factual Dispute Exists As To Suppliers’ Contractual Failure
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — In a lawsuit brought by a medical equipment company against a health care product distributor and its CEO seeking the return of a $323,640 down payment for a shipment of nitrile gloves it never received, the company moved a New York federal court for summary judgment, contending that there are no undisputed issues of material fact regarding the distributor’s failures to fulfill its contractual obligations and that its defense of commercial impracticability fails.
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December 16, 2024
United Tells 5th Circuit Class Incorrectly Certified In Vaccine Mandate Suit
NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Texas erred in partially granting a motion for class certification filed by United Airlines Inc. employees in a case over the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate as Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23’s commonality, predominance or superiority requirements were not satisfied, United Airlines argues in an appellant/cross-appellee brief filed in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
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December 16, 2024
N.C. Supreme Court: Retailer’s COVID-19 Loss Excluded By Policy As Contamination
RALEIGH, N.C. — Ruling that a contamination exclusion in a clothing retailer insured’s “all-risk” commercial insurance policy excluded the insured’s claimed losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the North Carolina Supreme Court on Dec. 13 — while disagreeing with its reasoning — affirmed the judgment of a state appellate court, which in turn affirmed a trial court’s dismissal of the insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage under the policy for its losses.
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December 16, 2024
N.C. High Court Rules COVID-19 Lockdowns Caused Restaurants’ Direct Physical Loss
RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Supreme Court on Dec. 13 reversed the judgment of a state appellate court that had reversed a trial court’s grant of partial summary judgment in favor of restaurant insureds in a COVID-19 coverage dispute, concluding that the restaurants’ insurance policies did not “unambiguously bar coverage when government orders and threatened viral contamination deprived the policyholder restaurants of their ability to physically use and physically operate property at their insured business premises.”
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December 12, 2024
Religious Discrimination In, Disability Discrimination Out In COVID Vaccine Suit
PORTLAND, Ore. — In a lawsuit by a former employee alleging that her employer failed to make a good faith effort to accommodate her religious beliefs and medical disability, both of which led her to decline a company-mandated COVID-19 vaccination and caused her dismissal, an Oregon federal judge on Dec. 11 adopted the findings and recommendation of a magistrate judge and granted the employer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings as to the employee’s disability discrimination claim but denied the motion as to the employee’s religious discrimination claim.
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December 11, 2024
No Coverage Owed For Regal Cinemas’ Coronavirus Losses, 9th Circuit Affirms
PASADENA, Calif.— The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of insurers in Regal Cinemas’ breach of contract lawsuit seeking recovery for its revenue losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that, pursuant to New York law, Regal Cinemas was not insured for its alleged business losses.
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December 10, 2024
Panel: Reservation Court Has Jurisdiction In Tribe’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit
PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a tribal court has subject matter jurisdiction over an insurance company in a dispute over the tribe’s claims for business interruption losses at its casino caused by the coronavirus pandemic, affirming a lower federal court on the alterative ground that the insurance policy at issue satisfies Montana’s consensual-relationship exception.
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December 10, 2024
PPE Seller’s Lawsuit Against Postal Service Stemming From Hacked Email Settles
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and a personal protective equipment (PPE) seller it contracted with to purchase PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic on Dec. 9 filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims a joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice of a lawsuit brought by the seller alleging that the USPS failed to pay it for two shipments of PPE after a third party commandeered the seller’s email system and persuaded the USPS to direct payments to a different bank account.
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December 10, 2024
Retail Furniture Insured Voluntarily Dismisses Coronavirus Coverage Suit
PHILADELPHIA — A retail furniture insured filed a notice in a federal court in Pennsylvania to voluntarily dismiss its lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses stemming from the forced closure of its business in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
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December 09, 2024
Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In Convention Center’s Suit Arising From Pandemic
SEATTLE — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a federal court’s ruling that granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss an insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its business interruption losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that the insured fails to show that coverage exists for its losses under the policy’s Civil or Military Authority provision and further concluding that the policy's contamination exclusion precludes coverage.
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December 05, 2024
Doctor Entitled To Almost $98K In Attorney Fees For Success On Disability Claim
SAN FRANCISCO — A pediatrician who successfully prevailed on her claim for long-term disability (LTD) benefits based on her high risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus is entitled to $97,965 in attorney fees and $625 in costs because the pediatrician succeeded on the merits of her disability claim and the disability insurer presented no special circumstances that would warrant against an award, a California federal judge said in granting the pediatrician’s motion for attorney fees and costs.
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December 05, 2024
Hydroxychloroquine Seller’s Contract Claims Survive Maker’s Bid For Dismissal
TRENTON, N.J. — Applying the economic loss doctrine to a pharmaceutical supplier’s allegations that a manufacturer committed fraud as to a contract for the purchase of large quantities of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine phosphate in refusing to accept returns of and provide refunds for unsold products, a New Jersey federal judge on Dec. 4 granted the manufacturer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in part, dismissing the fraud claims and a claim for indemnification, but granted the supplier’s cross-motion for leave to file a second amended complaint to clarify counts alleging that the manufacturer was in breach of certain contractual clauses.
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December 04, 2024
Bank Denies Discrimination In Alleged Improper Denial Of COVID-19 Mortgage Relief
JACKSON, Miss. — Contending that there is a complete lack of evidence of discriminatory conduct on its part, an Illinois mortgage servicer has moved a Mississippi federal court for summary judgment in a lawsuit brought by a Mississippi homeowner alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) after the servicer foreclosed on her home without offering mortgage modifications sought by the homeowner after experiencing income loss due to her divorce and the COVID-19 pandemic.
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December 03, 2024
Following John’s Grill, Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In COVID-19 Suit
SAN DIEGO — Reconsidering its earlier holding in favor of a diner insured in light of John's Grill, Inc. v. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., a California appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s judgment in favor of an insurer in the diner’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its business losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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December 03, 2024
Costs Approved After University’s Pandemic Closure Class Settlement Finalized
PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania approved litigation expenses in a student’s class lawsuit over the transition of in-person to online learning due to the coronavirus pandemic; the order was filed just over a week after the $1,153,880 settlement was granted final approval.
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November 26, 2024
High Court To Review Delegated Oversight Of Telecommunications Subsidies
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court has granted two petitions for a writ of certiorari and consolidated cases concerning whether Congress violated the nondelegation doctrine by authorizing the Federal Communications Commission to delegate a subsidy program to a private entity, both arising out of the en banc Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that the program violates the “private nondelegation doctrine.”
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November 22, 2024
COMMENTARY: 2024 Key Insurance Decisions, Trends & Developments & A Look Ahead To 2025
By Scott M. Seaman, Pedro E. Hernandez and Lisa M. Roccanova