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

Mealey's Coronavirus

October 30, 2023
School District Seeks Summary Judgment Against Parent Critical Of COVID-19 Policy

DETROIT — In a lawsuit by a parent against a Michigan school district and individual school board members stemming from the board members’ responses to the parent’s criticism of the school district’s COVID-19 policy, the district and board members moved for summary judgment, contending that the board members’ conduct in response to the parent’s behavior did not violate the parent’s First Amendment free speech rights and is itself protected by the First Amendment.
October 30, 2023
Force Majeure Provision Does Not Excuse Rent Payment, Panel Says In Coronavirus Suit

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s ruling that an appellant cannot recoup rent payments for periods during which it was prevented from operating its indoor health and fitness facility due to the government orders in response to the coronavirus pandemic, rejecting the appellant’s argument that the commercial lease's force majeure provision excused it from paying rent.
October 30, 2023
U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Hear Maine Health Workers’ COVID-19 Vaccine Challenge

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A petition for a writ of certiorari by Maine health care workers fired for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine citing religious beliefs was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 30.
October 26, 2023
7th Circuit Approves Make-Whole Remedy In NLRB Pandemic Response Case

CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals approved a stipulation and proposed consent order in a pandemic response case between the National Labor Relations Board and a Wisconsin salon business under which the business will make the charging party whole and pay the NLRB’s attorney fees and expenses.
October 25, 2023
Fee Award Denied In Dismissed ‘Impossible To Adjudicate’ COVID-19 Testing Row

NEWARK, N.J. — Following dismissal with prejudice of a medical practice’s Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over payment for COVID-19 tests, a New Jersey federal magistrate judge on Oct. 24 denied an insurer’s request for attorney fees and costs.
October 25, 2023
8th Circuit Refuses To Reconsider Remand Of Coronavirus Coverage Suit

ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 24 denied an insurer’s petition seeking rehearing or rehearing en banc of its Sept. 11 ruling that reversed and remanded a coronavirus coverage ruling for an Iowa federal court to determine whether federal diversity jurisdiction exists.
October 25, 2023
Bank Workers Fired For Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine Appeal Summary Judgment

NEW YORK — Two former employees of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) who were fired after refusing to follow a COVID-19 vaccination policy based on religious beliefs filed a notice on Oct. 24 that they are appealing a ruling by a federal judge in New York granting summary judgment to FRBNY.
October 25, 2023
Del. Court: Worker Contracted COVID-19 On The Job, But Disease Isn’t Occupational

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Perdue Farms Inc. employee showed that he contracted COVID-19 at the Perdue plant but failed to show that his illness was an occupational disease pursuant to the Delaware Worker’s Compensation Act (WCA), a Delaware judge ruled, affirming a decision by the Industrial Accident Board denying the worker’s petition to determine compensation due.
October 24, 2023
PPP Loan Recipient Seeks Dismissal Of False Claims Act Suit By Former Employee

SAN DIEGO — In a lawsuit brought on behalf of the United States under the False Claims Act (FCA) by a financial officer alleging that the company that formerly employed him received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan during the COVID-19 pandemic by altering or misrepresenting its payroll records, the company moved to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim and pursuant to the FCA’s public disclosure bar.
October 23, 2023
Georgia Federal Magistrate Judge Limits Testimony On Source Of COVID-19 Infection

SAVANNAH, Ga. — An expert can testify that a longshoreman did not contract COVID-19 while aboard a vessel but he cannot opine on alternative sources of infection, a federal magistrate judge in Georgia ruled.
October 23, 2023
Military Members’ Vaccine Cases Dismissed After Undisclosed Costs Settlement

TAMPA, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida in an Oct. 20 docket entry dismissed with prejudice two complaints by military members challenging a COVID-19 vaccine mandate; the order was filed one day after the parties filed a joint stipulation of dismissal after reaching an undisclosed settlement on costs.
October 23, 2023
5th Circuit Affirms Refusal To Remand And Dismissal Of Coronavirus Coverage Suit

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s denial of insureds’ motion to remand a coronavirus coverage dispute and its grant of the commercial property insurer’s motion to dismiss a breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that the insureds failed to plausibly plead that the coronavirus caused direct physical damage to their insured property.
October 20, 2023
En Banc Review Denied To COVID-19 Test Provider Seeking Reimbursement From Insurer

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for rehearing en banc sought by a COVID-19 test provider after a panel of the court affirmed the judgment of a California federal court dismissing five complaints brought by the provider seeking reimbursement from an insurer for COVID testing services under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
October 20, 2023
Miss. Federal Judge: Tribal Remedies Must Be Exhausted Before Filing Federal Suit

NORTHERN JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi federal judge stayed claims brought by two men regarding a COVID-19 mask mandate enforced by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (MBCI) at one of the tribe’s casinos because the men failed to exhaust their tribal court remedies before bringing their action in federal court.
October 20, 2023
Interim Class Counsel Appointed In Amazon COVID-19 Screenings Case

FRESNO, Calif. — A federal judge in California appointed Hodges & Foty LLP interim class counsel in a case by employees accusing Amazon.com Services LLC of failing to pay workers for time spent undergoing COVID-19 symptom screenings before their shifts.
October 20, 2023
9th Circuit Requests Briefing On Mootness In Challenge To COVID Misinformation Law

SAN FRANCISCO — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a per curiam order directed the parties in a lawsuit challenging California’s medical professional COVID-19 misinformation law to file supplemental briefs within 14 days on the question of whether California Senate Bill 815 (SB 815) rendered the case moot.
October 19, 2023
Parent Critical Of COVID Policy Seeks Summary Judgment In Suit Against School Board

DETROIT — In a lawsuit by a parent against a Michigan school district and individual school board members stemming from the board members’ responses to the parent’s criticism of the school district’s COVID-19 policy, the parent moved for summary judgment on Oct. 18, contending that there are no genuine issues of material fact as to her allegations that the board members violated her First Amendment free speech rights or that one board member’s illegal actions were done on behalf of the board.
October 19, 2023
BU Students Seek Reversal Of Summary Judgment Ruling In Pandemic Closure Suit

BOSTON — A trial court erred when it granted summary judgment to the trustees of Boston University (BU) in a putative class complaint brought after in-person classes transitioned to online-only in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the students who brought the complaint write in an omnibus appellant brief filed in the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that the ruling came after the court “correctly identified disputed issues of material fact.”
October 19, 2023
Air, Space Force Members Argue For Denial Of Certiorari In Vaccine Mandate Appeal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court should not grant a petition for a writ of certiorari by the Air Force secretary and others seeking vacatur of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that left in place class certification and a classwide injunction in a vaccine mandate case where the mandate has since been rescinded, members of the U.S. Air Force and Space Force who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons argue in an Oct. 18 opposition brief, asserting that the appeal is not moot.
October 19, 2023
PPP Loan Recipient: No Factual Issue That Loan Forgiveness Denied Improperly

CHICAGO — A Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan recipient that was denied eligibility for loan forgiveness because of the nature of its business moved for summary judgment in its lawsuit against the Small Business Administration (SBA), contending that there was no question of material fact that the SBA applied an interim final rule to deny forgiveness that was in contravention of the provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, under which the PPP was created.
October 18, 2023
Supplier Seeks Reimbursement From Manufacturer For Unsold Hydroxychloroquine

TRENTON, N.J. — A pharmaceutical supplier sued a pharmaceutical manufacturer in New Jersey federal court, alleging that the manufacturer breached a contract for the purchase of large quantities of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine phosphate for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 in failing to provide refunds for unpurchased product and to indemnify the supplier against claims by a governmental customer that the prices set by the manufacturer violated state law.
October 18, 2023
Baylor As Amicus Tells Texas High Court Pandemic Liability Act Is Retroactive

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court should find that the Texas Pandemic Liability Protection Act (PLPA) may be applied retroactively to a Southern Methodist University (SMU) student’s breach of contract claim in a putative class complaint over the school’s closure during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Baylor University argues in the latest amicus curiae brief addressing a question certified by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
October 18, 2023
Former NBA Player Alleges Disability Insurer Breached Contract, Acted In Bad Faith

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A former National Basketball Association (NBA) player alleges in a complaint filed in North Carolina federal court that his disability insurer acted in bad faith and breached its contract by denying his disability benefits claim because he was rendered totally and permanently disabled by a diagnosis of myopericarditis, an inflammation of the lining of his heart, following two bouts with COVID-19.
October 18, 2023
New York Justice Dismisses Counterclaims Against Insurers In COVID-19 Coverage Suit

NEW YORK — A New York justice granted insurers’ motion to dismiss their insurers’ counterclaims in a coronavirus coverage dispute, finding that the case is “factually indistinguishable” from Consolidated Rest. Operations, Inc. v. Westport Ins. Corp. as to “policyholder COVID-19 claims based on a policy covering ‘direct physical loss, damage or destruction to property.’”
October 17, 2023
Delta Settles Pandemic Flight Cancellation Class Case For More Than $27M

ATLANTA — A federal judge in Georgia granted final approval of a class settlement in a case by Delta Air Lines Inc. customers who were provided credits and not requested refunds for flights canceled between March 2020 and April 2021; the agreement will provide more than $27 million to settlement class members who make eligible claims, as well as separate payments of more than $2.3 million for attorney fees and costs and $3,000 for a service award.