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

Mealey's Coronavirus

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.
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.