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

Mealey's Coronavirus

July 20, 2023
Federal Judge Allows Detainees’ Pandemic Cleaner Poisoning Claims To Proceed

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Putative class claims first filed in March by detainees who say they were poisoned by a cleaning solution the facility operator used multiple times an hour between February 2020 and April 2021 as a purported safety measure against COVID-19 “fall within the heartland of delayed discovery cases,” a federal judge in California ruled, denying a motion to partially dismiss the complaint based on the purported applicable statute of limitations.
July 19, 2023
School Requiring COVID Vaccination Seeks To Dismiss Religious Discrimination Suit

HANNIBAL, Mo. — A private Missouri health sciences university moved to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a former medical student alleging breach of contract and violations of Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Missouri state law against religious discrimination after she withdrew from the university because of its requirement that she be vaccinated for COVID-19 to participate in a clinical rotation.
July 18, 2023
Fitness Company Seeks To Dismiss Gym Fee Dispute Stemming From COVID Lockdowns

LOS ANGELES — A fitness and health company and its wholly owned subsidiary moved 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, contending that the statute of limitations had run on most of the claims and that the claim of negligent misrepresentation was inadequately pleaded.
July 18, 2023
Insurers Allowed To Appeal Coronavirus Coverage Dispute To Pennsylvania High Court

PITTSBURGH — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted insurers’ petition to appeal a majority of the Pennsylvania Superior Court’s ruling that, at the very least, it is reasonable to interpret the phrase “direct physical loss of . . . property” to encompass the loss of use of a dental practice’s property due to the spread of the coronavirus “absent any actual damage to property.”
July 18, 2023
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Allows Tavern Owner To Appeal COVID-19 Coverage Suit

PITTSBURGH — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted a Pittsburgh tavern owner insured’s petition for allowance to appeal a Pennsylvania Superior Court reversal of a lower court’s ruling in its favor in a coronavirus coverage dispute, challenging the Superior Court’s finding that “the policy does not cover mere loss of use of commercial property unaccompanied by physical alteration or other condition immanent in the property that renders the property itself unusable or uninhabitable.”
July 17, 2023
Panel Refuses To Depart From ‘Overwhelming Weight Of Authority’ In COVID-19 Suit

CHICAGO — An Illinois panel held that there was no evidence that an insured incurred direct physical loss or damage required to trigger commercial insurance coverage for its business income losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic and government shutdown orders, noting that Illinois courts have consistently concluded “that economic loss sustained during the pandemic did not constitute ‘physical loss of’ or ‘physical damage’ to property under the commercial insurance policies.”
July 14, 2023
6th Circuit Affirms Remand In COVID Death Suit, Says No PREP Act Preemption

CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s remand of a negligence and COVID-19 wrongful death suit to state court, finding that the nursing home defendants failed to establish preemption under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act by not providing evidence of a federal agency delegating authority to the defendants to act on the agency’s behalf.
July 14, 2023
6th Circuit: University’s Vaccine Mandate Didn’t Violate Workers’ Rights

CINCINNATI — Michigan State University’s (MSU) vaccine mandate for employees did not violate their constitutional rights and was not preempted by federal law, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled July 13, affirming a trial court’s ruling.
July 13, 2023
9th Circuit Says COVID Suit Lacks PREP Act Preemption, Federal Jurisdiction

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s remand to state court of a COVID-19 death suit filed by legal representatives of a decedent against the nursing home they allege was responsible for her death, finding that the lower court correctly determined that it lacked “federal subject matter jurisdiction under the doctrine of complete preemption” because the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act “is not a complete preemption statute.”
July 12, 2023
Dave Ramsey Dismissed From Former Employee’s Failure To Protect From Pandemic Suit

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge in Tennessee on July 11 granted a motion by radio host and personal financial personality Dave Ramsey seeking dismissal from a complaint by a former employee accusing Ramsey and his company, The Lampo Group, of failing to take precautions against the spread of COVID-19 during the initial days of the coronavirus pandemic, defying Tennessee stay at-home-orders by holding large, in-person meetings of approximately 900 employees and telling employees that prayer was the way to avoid infection.
July 12, 2023
Operators Of Four Seasons Shuttered During Pandemic Appeal Arbitration Denial

NEW YORK — The operators of a New York City Four Seasons that closed the hotel and furloughed employees due to the coronavirus pandemic who have been sued by those workers for failure to pay separation pay and provide proper notice filed an amended notice of appeal in a federal court in New York on July 11 after an opinion was filed explaining an earlier denial of motions for arbitration, dismissal of class claims and a stay.
July 12, 2023
Insurers Seek Dismissal Of Suit For Payment Of Gym Fees During COVID-19 Lockdowns

LOS ANGELES — Two California health insurers moved 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, contending that there was no contractual relationship between the insurers and the gym members regarding their memberships.
July 12, 2023
Default Entered Against Medical Supply Dealer For Undelivered COVID-19 Tests

MIAMI — A Florida federal court clerk entered a default against a medical supply dealer in a lawsuit brought by a Pennsylvania health and safety supply company seeking to recover a $225,000 deposit the company paid toward a $5.5 million order for undelivered COVID-19 home antigen tests after the dealer’s counsel withdrew from the case and was not replaced by the required date.
July 12, 2023
Panel: Insured Faces ‘Solid Wall Of Precedent’ In Coronavirus Coverage Appeal

SAN FRANCISCO — A California appellate court affirmed a ruling in favor of a commercial property insurer in an Orange County restaurant owner insured’s breach of contract lawsuit arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that the insured “faces a solid ‘wall of precedent’ that holds that direct physical loss or damage requires physical alteration of the covered property.”
July 12, 2023
Insured Appeals Denial Of Leave To Amend Coronavirus Complaint

BALTIMORE — An insured notified a Maryland federal court that it is appealing the 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 coronavirus coverage dispute.
July 11, 2023
Minnesota Appellate Panel Upholds Governor’s COVID-19 Emergency Declaration

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, on remand from the Minnesota Supreme Court, on July 10 affirmed a state court ruling dismissing the petition for writ of quo warranto of several state residents, businesses and churches seeking to prevent the enforcement of Gov. Tim Walz’s emergency order requiring Minnesotans to wear face coverings during the COVID-19 pandemic, concluding that the order was within the governor’s statutory powers.
July 11, 2023
Supplemental Briefing Timing Requested After Navy SEALs’ Vaccine Appeal Dismissed

NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Texas on July 10 requested that the parties in a vaccine mandate dispute submit their positions on the timing of supplemental briefing; the order came four days after a divided Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel, citing the rescission of the mandate, dismissed as moot an interlocutory appeal by Navy SEALs and members of the Navy who were denied religious exemptions from the Navy’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement, but left for the trial court to decide first whether any of the military members raised claims that are justiciable.
July 07, 2023
California Supreme Court Answers 2 Questions In COVID-19 Duty Owed Case

SAN FRANCISCO — The exclusivity provisions of the California Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA) do not bar a spouse’s tort claims against an employer; however, an employer does not owe a general duty of care to protect employees’ household members from the transmission of COVID-19, the California Supreme Court ruled July 6.
July 06, 2023
Small Businesses’ UCL Suit Against Bank For COVID Loans Sent To Arbitration

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge granted Bank of America’s motion to compel arbitration of putative class claims brought against it by small business owners who accuse the bank of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by inducing them to take out large Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans during the coronavirus pandemic by misrepresenting the restrictions on PPP loans.
July 06, 2023
Clarification Granted After University Pandemic Closure Pact Preliminarily Approved

WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware on July 5 granted a request by the University of Delaware and students to modify the notice to class members regarding the settlement payout method in a preliminarily approved agreement that would end the students’ lawsuit seeking reimbursements after the school closed most campus buildings and switched to online learning due to the coronavirus pandemic.
July 03, 2023
Clarification Sought After University Pandemic Closure Pact Preliminarily Approved

WILMINGTON, Del. — The University of Delaware and students suing for reimbursements after the school closed most campus buildings and switched to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic filed a joint letter in a federal court in Delaware seeking clarification regarding a modification to the settlement payout method in an order granting preliminary approval of the $6.3 million class settlement agreement.
June 30, 2023
Pfizer Employee, Friend Indicted, Sued For Trading On Paxlovid Insider Information

NEW YORK — An employee of drugmaker Pfizer Inc. and his friend were indicted and sued for securities fraud on June 29 for allegedly using inside information about Pfizer’s Paxlovid COVID-19 treatment to profit off a stock bump after the drug’s approval was publicly announced.
June 28, 2023
Dismissal Of DUI Case Reversed By Tribe’s Appeals Court Due To Virus Closures

PABLO, Mont. — A Montana Indian tribe’s appellate court reversed the dismissal of a woman’s drunken driving charges for lack of a speedy trial, finding that the tribe had the authority to close the tribal court due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that the defendant “was not unduly burdened in the legal sense by any pandemic-related delays of her criminal trial.”
June 28, 2023
Challenge To CDC’s Travel Mask Mandate Brought By 21 States Voluntarily Dismissed

TAMPA, Fla. — Twenty-one states challenging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 transportation mask mandate filed a notice of voluntary dismissal on June 27 after a separate appeal involving the mandate was resolved by the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which found that a previous challenge to the mandate was moot because the mandate had expired on its own terms.
June 28, 2023
Panel Rejects Insureds’ Contention That Loss Of Full Use Of Restaurants Is Covered

PHOENIX — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals predicted that the Arizona Supreme Court would follow the courts’ “overwhelming consensus” that an insured’s temporary loss of use of property is not covered by an insurance policy’s provision for “direct physical loss of or damage to property,” affirming a lower federal court’s dismissal of restaurant owner insureds’ breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for their business losses and extra expenses arising from the governmental regulations in response to the coronavirus pandemic.