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

Mealey's Coronavirus

February 07, 2024
Texas Panel: Exclusion Bars Coverage For Baylor College Of Medicine’s COVID-19 Losses

HOUSTON — A Texas appeals court on Feb. 6 affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of insurers in Baylor College of Medicine’s lawsuit seeking commercial property insurance coverage for its lost business income arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that the Pollution and Contamination exclusion unambiguously bars coverage.
February 06, 2024
Justice Kagan Denies Firm’s Petition To Enjoin Apple’s ‘Censorship Of Software’

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A software company that pursued monopolization claims against Apple Inc. after its coronavirus tracing app was rejected from distribution at Apple’s App Store saw its bid for injunctive relief from the U.S. Supreme Court denied without comment on Feb. 5 by Justice Elena Kagan.
February 06, 2024
9th Circuit Panel Rules PREP Act Immunity Extends To State Vaccine Prioritization

SAN FRANCISCO — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in related appeals reversed an Oregon federal court decision denying the motions to dismiss of Oregon’s governor and other state officials in a class action by prison inmates seeking damages for alleged constitutional violations resulting from the officials’ decision to prioritize COVID-19 vaccination for prison workers over the inmates.
February 06, 2024
Objectors To 6th Circuit: Reverse Approval Of Vaccine Mandate Settlement

CINCINNATI — Objectors to a $130,000 nationwide settlement in a class case by hospital employees who challenged their employer’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy filed an appellant brief in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenging the amount as inadequate and arguing that the agreement was not sufficiently scrutinized given that “the case did not involve the assertion of nationwide class claims at the time settlement was agreed to and submitted for approval.”
January 31, 2024
State Officials: Doctor COVID Misinformation Suit Is Moot After Repeal Of Statute

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Having completed briefing on mootness ordered by a California federal court in related lawsuits by California physicians 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, California state officials moved to dismiss the cases after the statute was repealed.
January 30, 2024
7th Circuit: School Workers Can’t Sue In Both State, Federal Court Over Vaccine

CHICAGO — School workers suing over COVID-19 vaccine and testing requirements can’t sue in both state and federal courts, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Jan. 29, affirming a trial court’s dismissal of the federal case where the workers sought damages, opining that all claims could have been included in their state court case and “Illinois does not tolerate sequential litigation against a single order, whether or not the plaintiffs made a strategic blunder.”
January 30, 2024
BYU, Student Stipulate To Dismissal Of Pandemic Closure Case With Prejudice

SALT LAKE CITY — A Brigham Young University (BYU) student and the school stipulated to the dismissal of a class complaint in a federal court in Utah 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.
January 29, 2024
U.S. Supreme Court Seeks Defense Secretary Response In COVID-19 Vaccine Appeal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The secretary of Defense and other federal government officials on Jan. 26 were asked by the U.S. Supreme Court to respond to a petition by military chaplains who sued over the denial of their religious accommodation requests when it came to the COVID-19 vaccine and argue that their lawsuit remains live despite the revocation of the mandate.
January 29, 2024
Former Employee Alleges Termination For Refusing COVID Vaccine Was Discrimination

PORTLAND, Ore. — Alleging that her employer failed to make a good faith effort to accommodate her religious beliefs and medical disability, both of which led her to decline a company-mandated COVID-19 vaccination, an Idaho woman filed suit against the employer in an Oregon federal court, seeking compensatory and punitive damages after the company terminated her employment.
January 25, 2024
Amazon’s $950,000 Pandemic Home-Based Expenses Class Settlement Approved

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California granted final approval of a $950,000 settlement between Amazon.com Services LLC and a class of California-based workers who alleged that they were denied reimbursement for internet expenses they incurred while working from home during the coronavirus pandemic and approved a motion for attorney fees and costs.
January 25, 2024
N.J. High Court: Casino Fails To Allege ‘Direct Physical Loss’ In COVID-19 Suit

TRENTON, N.J. — The New Jersey Supreme Court on Jan. 24 affirmed an appeals panel’s finding that a lower court erred in denying insurers’ motion to dismiss an insured’s lawsuit seeking property and business interruption insurance coverage for its alleged loss of income during the closure of its Atlantic City casino in response to COVID-19 pandemic shutdown orders, finding that the insured has failed to plead that its business losses were caused by direct physical loss or damage under the policy and that the contamination exclusion further bars coverage.
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.