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

Mealey's Coronavirus

May 05, 2023
Medical Insurers 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 group of health insurers, the insurers moved to dismiss the laboratory’s amended complaint, contending that the laboratory insufficiently pleaded a cause of action under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act and failed to allege that a valid contract existed between the parties so as to provide for state law causes of action.
May 05, 2023
3 Detention Officers’ Claims Over COVID-19 Response Tossed By Federal Judge

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California on May 4 granted summary judgment to an employer in three separate constructive discharge complaints brought by detention officers who alleged that they were forced to resign due to their employer’s failure to properly respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
May 04, 2023
PPP Borrower Claiming Wrongful Denial Of Loan Forgiveness And SBA Reach Settlement

FORT WORTH, Texas — The Small Business Administration (SBA) and a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan recipient claiming that it should not have been disqualified from loan forgiveness because its owner was on probation for a DUI that occurred 10 years ago filed a notice of settlement in a Texas federal court on May 3.
May 04, 2023
Pollution, Contamination Exclusion Bars Coverage For Virus Claims, Judge Reiterates

PHILADELPHIA — A pollution and contamination exclusion included in primary and excess all-risk policies bars coverage for an insured hotel operator’s business losses sustained in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Pennsylvania judge said in denying the insured’s motion for reconsideration and rejecting the insured’s argument that the exclusion applies only to traditional environmental pollution claims.
May 04, 2023
Breach Of Contract, Bad Faith Claims Fail Against Insurer In COVID-19 Coverage Suit

NEW ORLEANS — Breach of contract and bad faith claims alleged against a commercial property insurer cannot proceed because the insureds failed to show that their properties sustained a direct physical loss as a result of governmental shutdown orders issued in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Louisiana federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion to dismiss.
May 03, 2023
Panel: Insureds Fail To Allege Physical Alteration To California Movie Theaters

LOS ANGELES — A California appeals panel held that movie theater owner insureds have failed to allege a covered loss under their “‘all risk’” commercial property and general liability insurance policy because they have not demonstrated a physical alteration of their insured property, affirming a lower court’s grant of the insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in the insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
May 03, 2023
University And Students Reach Class Settlement In Pandemic Closure Case

WILMINGTON, Del. — The University of Delaware and students suing for reimbursements after the school closed most campus buildings and switched to online learning during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic filed a joint notice in Delaware federal court stating that they have reached a class settlement and will file a motion for preliminary approval by June 7.
May 01, 2023
Supreme Court Will Not Address Whether Expired COVID-19 Restrictions Case Is Moot

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on May 1 denied a petition for writ of certiorari filed by a pair of New Jersey churches and their pastors seeking review of a circuit court ruling that their challenge to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s restrictions on in-person church services during the COVID-19 pandemic was moot.
April 28, 2023
Panel: Tribe Fails To Show COVID-19 Caused Physical Property Damage To Casino

VENTURA, Calif. — A California appeals court panel on April 27 found that an insured Indian tribe and its experts failed to present sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the COVID-19 virus caused property damage to the tribe’s casino and resort, affirming a summary judgment ruling in favor of the insurer in the tribe’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the pandemic.
April 28, 2023
8th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Minnesota Medical Center’s COVID-19 Coverage Suit

ST. LOUIS —The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a federal court’s dismissal of a medical center insured’s breach of contract and declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding the insured failed to assert that SARS-CoV-2 had any effect on its property.
April 27, 2023
Judge Dismisses FCA Claims Against Hospital In Medicare Fraud COVID Testing Suit

ATHENS, Ga. — A Georgia federal judge on April 26 dismissed relators’ qui tam suit against a hospital and pulmonary medicine practice accused of violating the federal False Claims Act (FCA) and Georgia False Medicaid Claims Act (GFMCA) for seeking payment from Medicare and Medicaid related to purported fraud in repeating COVID testing to create negative results, finding that the relators “failed to state a viable claim for worthless services.”
April 27, 2023
NYC Workers Appeal Preliminary Injunction Denial In Vaccine Class Suit

NEW YORK — A nonprofit and current and former New York City workers suing over COVID-19 vaccine orders argue in their appellant brief filed in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that a trial court’s denial of preliminary injunctive relief was incorrect as “it is indisputably clear that neither the City nor any private employer in this country has or ever had the right — since at least as early as 1944 but no later than 1970 — to enforce any vaccine mandate as a condition or pre-condition of employment.”
April 26, 2023
University Urges 11th Circuit To Uphold Summary Judgment In Pandemic Closure Case

ATLANTA — Summary judgment for the University of Miami in a consolidated putative class complaint by students and parents seeking partial refunds after the students were transitioned to online learning in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic was proper as the claims were for educational malpractice, which Florida does not recognize as a cause of action, the university tells the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in its appellee brief.
April 26, 2023
Panel Reverses Choice-Of-Law Analysis, Affirms No Coverage Ruling In COVID-19 Suit

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey appeals panel held that a lower court improperly applied a choice-of-law analysis in a coronavirus coverage dispute but properly held that the existence of the virus in the hotel air or on hotel surfaces fails to constitute direct physical loss or damage to the insured premises, affirming in part and reversing in part.
April 26, 2023
Texas Judge Dismisses COVID-19 Vaccine False Claim Complaint

BEAUMONT, Texas — A Texas federal judge has dismissed with prejudice a relator’s claims that the conduct of a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine trial resulted in false claims being presented to the federal government by Pfizer of research organizations involved in the trial.
April 25, 2023
Illinois Judge: Unclear Whether Retirement Facilities Incurred Covered Crisis Event

CHICAGO — An Illinois judge granted insurers’ motion to dismiss insureds’ claims seeking a declaratory judgment as to Interruption by Communicable Disease, Contaminated Food/Communicable Disease and Preservation of Property (PP) coverage for their losses incurred by their continuing care retirement facilities following the coronavirus outbreak but refused to dismiss the insureds’ declaratory judgment and breach of contract claims as to the Crisis Management coverage and their breach of contract claim as to the Contaminated Food/Communicable Disease coverage under the primary insurance policies.
April 25, 2023
PPE Distributor Appeals Denial Of Arbitration In $8M Gloves Dispute To 8th Circuit

ST. LOUIS — A U.S. wholesale distributor of personal protective equipment (PPE) has appealed to the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a Missouri federal court’s ruling denying its motion to compel arbitration in Hong Kong with a Chinese manufacturer for a dispute over more than $8 million worth of unpaid invoices for nitrile gloves delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 21, 2023
NYC DOE Workers Appeal Dismissal Of COVID-19 Vaccine Class Lawsuit

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) employees whose class complaint challenging the department’s COVID-19 vaccine requirements was unsuccessful filed a notice on April 20 in New York federal court appealing the March dismissal decision as well as orders from February 2022 and November 2021 denying their motions for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction.
April 21, 2023
Challenge To COVID-19 Travel Restrictions On Hold Pending Mootness Determination

ATLANTA — In a frequent air traveler’s appeal of a Florida federal court’s ruling that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s transportation mask mandate and international traveler COVID-19 testing requirement for reentering the country were valid exercises of its legislative authority, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 20 held the case in abeyance pending its resolution of Health Freedom Defense Fund v. President of the United States.
April 20, 2023
Bound by 10012 Holdings, Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Hotel’s COVID-19 Coverage Suit

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 20 affirmed a federal court’s dismissal of a hotel owner insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its business losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, saying that 10012 Holdings, Inc. v. Sentinel Insurance Company, Ltd. bounds the panel to rule that no coverage was triggered.
April 19, 2023
Federal Judge Dismisses Dance Teacher, Husband’s Bias Claims In Pandemic-Related Dispute

NEWARK, N.J. — A federal judge in New Jersey granted motions to dismiss filed by the various defendants in a lawsuit by a dance teacher and her husband alleging that she was improperly fired after opposing training that she said promoted critical race theory (CRT) and seeking accommodations from vaccine and back-to-work requirements due to the coronavirus pandemic.
April 19, 2023
Media Companies Seek To Dismiss COVID Misinformation Policy-Based Antitrust Suit

AMARILLO, Texas — A group of media companies moved a Texas federal district on April 18 to dismiss a lawsuit by online publishers alleging that the media companies were in violation of antitrust laws in effecting a group boycott against the publishers’ content under the guise of preventing COVID-19 misinformation, arguing that the publishers failed to plead any anti-competitive behavior or that they were injured from any anti-competitive practice.
April 19, 2023
Split 6th Circuit Denies Rehearing In Air Force Members’ Vaccine Class Case

CINCINNATI — A divided Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued two decisions, one order denying a petition for rehearing en banc filed by the Air Force secretary, the United States and others after the court ruled in November to affirm class certification and the grant of a classwide injunction in a lawsuit by members of the U.S. Air Force and Space Force who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons and one order denying motions by both sides to supplement the certified record.
April 19, 2023
9th Circuit Denies Burger Chain’s Petition For Rehearing In COVID-19 Coverage Suit

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 18 unanimously denied In-N-Out Burgers’ petition for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc challenging its March 10 ruling that affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of its breach of contract lawsuit against its commercial property insurer seeking business interruption coverage for its coronavirus losses.
April 19, 2023
Nearly $8.9M University Pandemic Closure Class Settlement Approved

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California granted final approval of a nearly $8.9 million settlement proposed by the University of La Verne (ULV) in a class complaint by a student after the school transitioned to online learning due to the coronavirus pandemic and agreed to attorney fees, costs and service awards.