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

Mealey's Coronavirus

March 06, 2024
English Justice Denies Summary Judgment As To Coverage Issue In COVID-19 Suit

LONDON — A justice of the High Court of England and Wales denied summary judgment to two restaurant chains on the issue of coverage for their business interruption losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic but granted summary judgment and permission to appeal the policy construction issue.
March 05, 2024
9th Circuit: Pilot’s Appeal In Challenge To Airport Masking Rule Is Untimely

SAN FRANCISCO — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal of an airline pilot seeking review of a Washington federal court decision dismissing his complaint alleging that he was racially profiled and unlawfully detained by airport police officers in their attempt to enforce the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) COVID-19 masking policy as the pilot passed through security on the way to his flight, concluding that the notice of appeal had not been filed within 30 days of the trial court’s judgment.
March 05, 2024
Class, Hospitals Ask 6th Circuit To Uphold Vaccine Mandate Settlement

CINCINNATI — A class of hospital employees and their employer who reached a $130,000 nationwide settlement in a case over the employer’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy filed separate appellee briefs in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals seeking to uphold the settlement approval being challenged on appeal by objectors.
March 04, 2024
PPP Loan Forgiveness Case Dismissed After Attorney Fails To Withdraw

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico federal judge on March 1 dismissed without prejudice a case in which a mental health treatment facility sought de novo review of a decision of the Small Business Administration (SBA) denying forgiveness for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan after the facility’s attorney failed to withdraw from the case as ordered due to his suspension from practice by the Louisiana Supreme Court.
March 04, 2024
Ferry Workers Ask 1st Circuit To Reverse Injunction Denial In Vaccine Case

BOSTON — A trial court erred its standard of review selection and abused its discretion when it denied for a second time a request for preliminary injunction by employees of a Massachusetts ferry operations authority who sued after their requests for religious exemptions from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate were denied, the workers argue in their appellant brief filed in the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
March 01, 2024
Tribal Court Has Jurisdiction Over Tribe’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit, 9th Circuit Affirms

SEATTLE — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 29 affirmed a lower federal court’s finding that a tribal court has subject matter jurisdiction over a coronavirus coverage suit involving tribal properties on tribal land that the Suquamish Tribe brought against “nonmember, off-reservation” insurers that participate in a program that is tailored to and offered exclusively to tribes.
March 01, 2024
Termination Over COVID-19 Policy Was Not Tied To Man’s Native American Heritage

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey county and local union are entitled to summary judgment on claims brought against them by a man who says he was terminated from his employment with the county because of his Native American “cultural” opposition to a COVID-19 vaccination policy because the man failed to show that the termination was related to his race or national identity, a New Jersey federal judge found Feb. 29 in granting the county’s and union’s summary judgment motions.
March 01, 2024
City Seeks Rehearing In Coverage Suit Over Tax Revenue Losses Arising From Pandemic

ST. LOUIS — A Missouri city asked the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling that a commercial property insurer owes no coverage for the city’s tax revenue losses due to governmental closure orders in response to the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that the “inartful” policy is not clear and unambiguous.
February 29, 2024
Indiana Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In Purdue’s Suit Arising From Coronavirus

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana appeals court on Feb. 28 affirmed a lower court’s ruling in favor of an all-risks commercial insurer in the Trustees of Purdue University’s declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking coverage for its business interruption losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that Purdue’s claim does not fall under the unambiguous policy coverage for physical property loss or damage.
February 28, 2024
Judge: SBA Properly Denied Loan Forgiveness To PPP Borrower Not Initially Eligible

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, a Texas federal judge on Feb. 27 denied the dealer’s motion to alter or amend his opinion upholding the SBA’s decisions, ruling that the SBA’s loan review process “protects taxpayers from footing the bill for loans issued to ineligible parties” and that the SBA was authorized to enact that process.
February 27, 2024
Oregon Seeks Rehearing After 9th Circuit Ruling In Prisoner Vaccine Case

SEATTLE — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel created intra- and inter-circuit conflict with a decision denying Oregon’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, the state argues in a petition for rehearing or rehearing en banc.
February 27, 2024
Judge: PREP Act Applies To Class Action Alleging Injuries From COVID-19 Drug

LOS ANGELES — Patients and their family members who allege injuries after being prescribed and ingesting an antiviral drug used to treat severe COVID-19 symptoms saw their putative class action dismissed by a California federal judge who found that the manufacturer has immunity under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act).
February 23, 2024
Clinic That Denied Treatment To Maskless Patient Files Direct Threat Defense Brief

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), the defendants on Feb. 22 submitted a brief as requested by an Oregon federal judge on whether it is appropriate to consider — on the defendants’ motion to dismiss — their defense that the accommodation sought by the patient presented a direct threat to clinic occupants and was not required to be provided.
February 23, 2024
$5.5 Million Settlement Reached In Amazon COVID-19 Screenings Cases

FRESNO, Calif. — California employees who brought class complaints that were later consolidated accusing Amazon.com Services LLC of failing to pay workers for time spent undergoing COVID-19 symptom screenings before their shifts filed a motion in a federal court in California seeking preliminary approval of a $5.5 million settlement.
February 23, 2024
Walmart’s $2.5M Settlement In COVID-19 Screening Case Preliminarily Approved

PHOENIX — A federal judge in Arizona granted preliminary approval of a $2.5 million settlement to be paid by Walmart Inc. and Wal-Mart Associates Inc. (together, Walmart) to end a class complaint seeking compensation under Arizona law for time spent undergoing mandatory COVID-19 screening before each shift.
February 22, 2024
New Jersey Panel Affirms No Coverage Owed To YMCAs For Losses Arising From Pandemic

TRENTON, N.J. — The New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division on Feb. 21 affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of commercial property and casualty insurers in a coverage dispute arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that YMCA insureds’ business interruption claims are restricted by their policies’ clear and plain meaning that the court cannot rewrite to cover the “unfortunate losses” they incurred.
February 21, 2024
U.S. Representatives’ Petition Over Mask Violation Fines Deducted From Pay Denied

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by three members of the U.S. House of Representatives who argued that the deduction of fines from their pay after they refused to follow a resolution adopted in response to the coronavirus pandemic that required the wearing of masks violated the U.S. Constitution.
February 21, 2024
Maskless Resort Patron Denied Entry Appeals Dismissal Of Discrimination Suit

CAMDEN, N.J. — A would-be resort patron denied access to a New Jersey resort during the COVID-19 pandemic because of his physical inability to wear a mask filed a notice of appeal to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals seeking review of the decision of a New Jersey federal judge who granted the resort’s motion to dismiss the patron’s lawsuit claiming disability discrimination, determining that the resort was not required to accommodate a maskless patron because of the threat posed to the health of resort staff and other patrons.
February 16, 2024
New York High Court: Restaurateur Fails To Allege Direct Physical Loss Or Damage

ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York Court of Appeals on Feb. 15 held that the owner and operator of numerous restaurants failed to allege persistent contamination or total uninhabitability of its restaurants to trigger coverage for “direct physical loss or damage,” affirming the First Department New York Supreme Court Appellate Division’s affirmation of a lower court’s dismissal of the insured’s coverage lawsuit arising from an alleged tens of millions of dollars in revenue loss prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
February 15, 2024
Magistrate Judge Denies Stay Of Attorney Withdrawal In PPP Loan Forgiveness Case

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico federal magistrate judge on Feb. 14 denied the request for an indefinite stay of an order that the attorney representing a mental health treatment facility withdraw from a case seeking de novo review of a decision of the Small Business Administration (SBA) in connection with its denial of forgiveness for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, finding that such a stay would cause undue delay in the proceedings.
February 13, 2024
No Coverage For City’s Tax Revenue Losses Arising From Pandemic, Panel Affirms

ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 12 found that a commercial property insurer owes no coverage for a Missouri city’s tax revenue losses due to governmental closure orders in response to the coronavirus pandemic, affirming a lower court’s ruling in favor of the insurer.
February 12, 2024
Order Compelling Arbitration Reversed For COVID Death Claims Against Care Home

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — An Illinois appellate court reversed in part and remanded a lower court’s order compelling arbitration in an estate administrator’s suit against a nursing home after a former resident contracted COVID-19 and died, finding that the claims under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act cannot be arbitrated because the beneficiaries of the estate did not consent to arbitration.
February 12, 2024
English Justice Upholds Tribunals’ ‘Catastrophe’ Application In COVID-19 Cases

LONDON — Ruling in part that arbitration tribunals in two cases concerning the COVID-19 pandemic correctly concluded “that there had been a catastrophe for the purposes of the relevant Reinsurances,” a justice of the High Court of England and Wales on Feb. 9 dismissed an appeal in one case and allowed an appeal in the other case only as to the operation of an “Hours Clause.”
February 09, 2024
LTD Benefits Owed For Post-COVID-19 Syndrome, Claimant Says In Complaint

NEW YORK — A former regional sales manager filed suit in New York federal court, seeking a ruling that he is entitled to long-term disability (LTD) benefits for post-COVID-19 syndrome under a disability plan sponsored by his employer because the plan administrator’s denial of benefits was contrary to the weight of the medical and vocational evidence.
February 08, 2024
3rd Circuit: Going Maskless Not Expressive Conduct Protected By 1st Amendment

PHILADELPHIA — In an opinion addressing two related appeals, a panel of the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that not wearing a mask was not constitutionally protected speech and thus affirmed the dismissal by a New Jersey federal court of a lawsuit by a parent alleging that New Jersey school board members and police violated her free speech rights under the First Amendment, U.S. Const. amend. I, by retaliating against her for not wearing a mask to a school board meeting.