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

Mealey's Coronavirus

January 24, 2024
PPE Seller’s Contract Action Against Postal Service Survives Motion To Dismiss

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a lawsuit by a personal protective equipment (PPE) seller against the United States alleging that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) failed to pay it for two shipments of PPE delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic after a third party commandeered the seller’s email system and persuaded the USPS to direct payments to a different bank account, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Jan. 23 granted in part and denied in part the government’s motion to dismiss.
January 23, 2024
Investor: Medical Company Misled About COVID’s Impact On Drug’s Clinical Testing

RENO, Nev. — A biopharmaceutical company misled investors by failing to disclose that its ability to test a drug planned to treat Alzheimer’s disease was severely impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, an investor says in a putative class complaint filed in a federal court in Nevada.
January 22, 2024
Insureds Failed To Show Valid Basis For N.C. High Court Review, Insurer Argues

RALEIGH, N.C. — An insurer argued to the North Carolina Supreme Court that an appeals court’s ruling that affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a clothing retailer insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic “presents no precedent-setting error that warrants intervention” by the North Carolina Supreme Court.
January 19, 2024
Court Ignored Ordinary Meaning Of Physical Loss, Insureds Tell N.C. High Court

RALEIGH, N.C. — Restaurant insureds tell the North Carolina Supreme Court that it should reverse an appeals court’s reversal of a lower court’s grant of partial summary judgment in their favor in a coronavirus coverage dispute, arguing that the phrase “physical loss or physical damage” includes loss of the physical use of property under the state’s “long-standing principles of insurance contract interpretation.”
January 19, 2024
Ohio Appeals Panel Upholds Class Certification In Mortgage Recording Case

CINCINNATI — Certification of a class in a case seeking damages for violations of Ohio’s mortgage-recording statute that occurred allegedly in part due to the coronavirus pandemic was appropriate as the lead plaintiff and class have standing, common questions predominate and amendments to the statute that barred class recovery do not impact this class as the amendments did not take effect until two months later, an Ohio appellate panel ruled.
January 19, 2024
Prison Officials Seek High Court Review Of COVID-Related Qualified Immunity Rulings

WASHINGTON, D.C. — California corrections officials have filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking review of four panel opinions from the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirming lower federal court decisions denying the officials qualified immunity for their conduct in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic after 26 inmates and a prison employee died from COVID-19.
January 19, 2024
Washington Majority Affirms Rulings Against Insurers In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

OLYMPIA, Wash. — A majority of the Washington Supreme Court on Jan. 18 affirmed a lower court’s denial of insurers’ motion to dismiss based on forum non conveniens in a coverage dispute with 60 colleges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, further affirming the lower court’s issuance of an interstate antisuit injunction enjoining the insurers from taking further action in a parallel Illinois lawsuit.
January 17, 2024
High Court Told ‘Chaos’ Will Ensue ‘In A World Without Chevron’ Deference

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court was told Jan. 17 that “chaos” will ensue “in a world without Chevron” deference by government attorneys, who urged it to apply stare decisis and uphold Chevron, which is being challenged in two cases arising out of federal fishing regulations.
January 17, 2024
University’s $6.5M Settlement Approved In Pandemic Closure Refunds Class Suit

ALBANY, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York granted final approval of a $6.5 million class settlement to be paid by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to students who alleged that they were denied adequate refunds for tuition, fees, room and board and other costs after the school shut down its facilities and switched all classes to online in the spring 2020 semester due to the coronavirus pandemic.
January 17, 2024
University’s $5.4 Million Pandemic Closure Settlement Preliminarily Approved

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia preliminarily approved a $5.4 million settlement between George Washington University (GW) and students and parents who sued after the school transitioned from in-person classes to online learning in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
January 17, 2024
Investor Says BioNTech Misled Shareholders With Predictions Of Vaccine Sales

LOS ANGELES — A biotechnology company misled investors by suggesting that its COVID-19 vaccine was still relevant despite not having approval from the Food and Drug Administration to target the most common subvariant at the time, an investor says in a purported class complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
January 17, 2024
Oregon Granted Extension For Rehearing Petition In Prisoner Vaccine Case

SEATTLE — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a Jan. 16 docket entry granted a motion by Oregon for an extension of time to file a petition for rehearing or rehearing en banc; the motion was filed after a panel denied the state’s petition for a writ of mandamus seeking to quash a trial court’s order compelling the deposition of the former governor in a class lawsuit by prisoners suing over the distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations and deaths due to the virus.
January 16, 2024
Stay Granted Except As To Decertification Motion In Pandemic School Closure Case

ATLANTA — A federal judge in Georgia agreed to stay proceedings in a class suit by a parent of an Emory University student seeking money back after classes and services were impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic while the class certification ruling is on appeal in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, except a motion by the school to decertify the class.
January 16, 2024
Medical Insurers Again Seek Dismissal Of COVID-Testing Lab’s Reimbursement Claims

NEWARK, N.J. — In a lawsuit brought by a medical testing laboratory seeking reimbursement for COVID-19 testing from a pair of health insurers, the insurers renewed their motion to dismiss the laboratory’s amended complaint on Jan. 12 after an earlier motion was administratively terminated by a New Jersey federal judge and negotiations failed to result in a settlement.
January 16, 2024
U.S. High Court Will Decide Exhaustion Requirements In Pandemic Unemployment Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 12 granted a petition by Alabama unemployment benefits applicants who argue that their lawsuit over the delays in processing the large amount of applications filed due to the coronavirus pandemic was improperly dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
January 12, 2024
Ferry Workers Appeal 2nd Preliminary Injunctive Relief Denial In Vaccine Case

BOSTON — Employees of a Massachusetts ferry operations authority who sued after their requests for religious exemptions from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate were denied filed a notice of appeal after a federal judge in Massachusetts on remand denied for a second time a preliminary injunction request.
January 11, 2024
PPP Borrower Denied Loan Forgiveness Claims Error By Court, Seeks Reconsideration

AMARILLO, Texas — In a lawsuit brought by a truck dealer against the federal government challenging the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) determination that the dealer was not initially eligible for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan and thus ineligible for loan forgiveness, the dealer moved a Texas federal court to alter or amend its opinion and resulting judgment granting the SBA’s cross-motion for summary judgment, contending that the court misapplied established principles of administrative law and statutory interpretation.
January 11, 2024
PPP Borrower’s Suit Against Lender Stayed Pending SBA Determination Of Forgiveness

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge stayed a lawsuit brought by a transportation services company alleging breach of contract, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty, negligent misrepresentation and promissory estoppel against a bank that determined that only $53,017 of a $1.5 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan was eligible for forgiveness pending a final determination by the Small Business Administration (SBA) as to the loan’s forgiveness.
January 11, 2024
Hospital States Claim Under Health Care Endorsement, 1st Circuit Rules In Reversal

BOSTON — The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Jan. 10 that a hospital insured was subject to decontamination orders and, therefore, states a claim for “Disease Contamination Coverage” under its commercial property insurance policy’s Health Care Endorsement, reversing in part a federal court’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
January 11, 2024
California Panel Denies NHL Insureds’ Petition For Review In COVID-19 Coverage Suit

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California appeals panel denied a petition by the National Hockey League (NHL) and 19 league clubs seeking review of a lower court’s ruling in a coverage dispute for their losses resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that the contamination exclusion barred coverage.
January 11, 2024
Judge: University’s Claims Forge At Least 1 Path To Coverage In Coronavirus Suit

SEATTLE — A Washington judge denied an insurer’s motion to dismiss the University of Washington’s lawsuit seeking coverage for losses allegedly incurred by its medical and athletic properties in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, finding that the time element losses endorsement may establish coverage based on the insured’s alleged facts.
January 10, 2024
Judge: Complainant Failed To Establish Equitable Tolling To Save Late EEOC Charge

PHOENIX — An Arizona federal court granted the motion of a behavioral health care center to dismiss a complaint by a former employee alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act as well as contract and tort claims, ruling that the employee failed to plead facts supporting the equitable tolling of the 180-day limit to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
January 10, 2024
Federal Judge Again Denies Injunctive Relief In Ferry Workers’ Vaccine Case

BOSTON — A federal judge in Massachusetts denied a renewed motion for a preliminary injunction filed by employees of a Massachusetts ferry operations authority whose requests for religious exemptions from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate were denied after the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals partially vacated the trial court’s preliminary injunctive relief denial.
January 09, 2024
PPP Loan Recipient And Lender Request Stay Pending SBA Determination Of Forgiveness

CHICAGO — In a lawsuit brought by an Illinois transportation services company alleging breach of contract, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty, negligent misrepresentation and promissory estoppel against a bank that determined that only $53,017 of a $1.5 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan was eligible for forgiveness, the parties jointly moved Jan. 8 for a stay pending a final determination by the Small Business Administration (SBA) as to the loan’s forgiveness.
January 09, 2024
5th Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment For Employer In EEOC’s Pandemic Mask Case

NEW ORLEANS — A trial court properly granted summary judgment to an employer accused by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of creating a hostile work environment and constructive discharge after a manager criticized a worker for asking to wear a mask during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic as the claims “are foreclosed by [Fifth Circuit] precedent,” a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled in a per curiam opinion.