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

Mealey's Coronavirus

July 15, 2024
Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In Manufacturer’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 12 affirmed a lower federal court’s judgment in favor of an insurer in a manufacturer insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, saying it is “unpersuaded” that the adsorption of coronavirus particles constitutes physical loss or damage under both the policy language and Connecticut law.
July 15, 2024
California High Court Dismisses Tribe’s Appeal In Coronavirus Coverage Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court dismissed an Indian tribe insured’s appeal of a state appellate court’s finding that the insured and its experts failed to present sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the coronavirus caused property damage to the tribe’s casino and resort.
July 12, 2024
Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In Television Producer’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 11 affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of an insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in a television series producer insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses incurred from coronavirus-related disruptions and delays in the production of its show, rejecting the insured’s contention that the lower court should have permitted it to present extrinsic evidence before it granted the insurer’s motion.
July 12, 2024
Clothing Boutique, Insurer Withdraw 2nd Circuit Appeal In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

NEW YORK — An insurer and its clothing boutique owner insured stipulated that the insured’s appeal in its breach of contract and declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking business interruption and property damage coverage for its losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shutdown orders has been withdrawn with prejudice from the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
July 12, 2024
6th Circuit Upholds Arbitration Determination In Pilots’ Vaccine Mandate Case

CINCINNATI — Religious and disability bias claims by Kalitta Air LLC pilots who filed a putative class complaint challenging their employer’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate required interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement’s terms, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming the trial court’s ruling that the claims must go through arbitration first as minor disputes pursuant to the Railway Labor Act (RLA).
July 10, 2024
Company Not Required Under ADA To Provide Remote Work Option To Freight Dispatcher

MACON, Ga. — A Georgia federal court on July 9 granted the summary judgment motion of a lawn products company in an action by a former employee alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in failing to provide her with a reasonable accommodation after she was stricken with a chronic respiratory condition that ensued after a bout of COVID-19, ruling that her position undisputedly required on-site work and that the company was not required to provide a remote-work accommodation.
July 10, 2024
6th Circuit Partially Vacates Dismissal Of Cleaning Agent-Related Disability Claims

CINCINNATI — A former Shelby County, Tenn., deputy jailer may proceed with some of her disability claims related to medical reactions she experienced to a cleaning agent initially used in 2013 and continuing past 2020 when the use of the cleaner increased due to the coronavirus pandemic, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled in a July 9 unpublished order.
July 09, 2024
Air Force, Space Force Members Tell 6th Circuit COVID-19 Vaccine Case Not Moot

CINCINNATI — A class complaint by members of the U.S. Air Force and Space Force who refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons in which a classwide preliminary injunction was vacated as moot by the U.S. Supreme Court must be permitted to proceed as “the case, unlike the preliminary injunction, is not moot,” the service members argue in an appellant brief filed July 8 in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
July 09, 2024
8th Circuit Reinstates Health Worker’s Religious Bias Vaccine Mandate Case

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — A physical therapist who accuses her employer of discrimination related to requirements for workers who were granted religious exemptions from the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate may proceed with her claims as “all reasonable inferences” must be granted in the employee’s favor and the court “cannot assume at this early juncture that religious discrimination did not occur because one subset of potential comparators also faced disparate treatment,” an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled.
July 08, 2024
Texas Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In Restaurants’ Suit Arising From Pandemic

DALLAS — A Texas appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s grant of a commercial property insurer’s motion for summary judgment in two restaurant group insureds’ lawsuit seeking coverage for their business interruption losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, concluding that the insureds failed to present “more than a scintilla of evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact that COVID-19 caused ‘direct physical loss of or damage to’” to their restaurants.
July 08, 2024
8th Circuit Upholds Dismissal Of COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Religious Bias Claims

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A 3M Co. worker who cited his religious beliefs when he opposed the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate but later abandoned the argument failed to show that he was discriminated against due to his religion, an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled July 5.
July 08, 2024
Federal Judge: No Class Certification In COVID Shot Stock Loss Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge denied a motion for class certification in a securities dispute brought by investors who claim that a biotechnology company, a hedge fund that backed it and others issued false statements about a COVID-19 vaccine in a massive stock pump-and-dump scheme, saying that both the investors and the hedge fund failed to grapple with the unique issues the case presents.
July 08, 2024
Split 8th Circuit Panel Upholds $14.6M PPE Refund For Violations Of FTC Act

ST. LOUIS — A divided panel of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a Missouri federal court’s order permanently enjoining a personal protective equipment (PPE) retailer from any further sales of PPE and ordering the retailer to turn over $14,651,185.42 to the Federal Trade Commission to be used as equitable relief for violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Mail, Internet or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule in failing to fulfill orders within the retailer’s advertised timeframe during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
July 08, 2024
Ferry Authority To 1st Circuit: Workers Likely Won’t Succeed With Vaccine Claims

BOSTON — A trial court properly denied a renewed motion for a preliminary injunction filed by employees of a Massachusetts ferry operations authority who sued after their requests for religious exemptions from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate were denied as the workers failed to show any likelihood of success on the merits of their claims, the authority and its director of Human Resources argue in an appellee brief filed in the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
July 05, 2024
Doctor Seeks To Reargue That COVID-Era Malpractice Claim Is Procedurally Deficient

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A physician filed a motion in Connecticut state court seeking to reargue her contention that an opinion letter necessary to support a malpractice claim of a patient alleging that her head injury was misdiagnosed as gastroenteritis during the COVID-19 pandemic was insufficient, arguing that the complaint falsely stated that she was a nonspecialist and that the opinion letter was not written by a sufficiently similar health care provider and, thus, that her motion to dismiss was erroneously denied.
June 28, 2024
High Court Overrules Chevron Deference, Changes Standard For Regulatory Review

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 28 voted 6-3 to overrule the doctrine of Chevron deference as incompatible with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in two cases arising out of federal fishing regulations, changing governing precedent for federal courts reviewing agencies’ regulatory actions.
June 28, 2024
Majority Affirms Dismissal Of Suit Seeking $192M In Losses Arising From Coronavirus

NEW ORLEANS — A majority of a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 27 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of a commercial property insurer in Texas’ largest nonprofit health system’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its $192 million in business interruption losses arising from the coronavirus, but the dissenting judge found that the case is distinct because the insured pleaded tangible alterations to its property.
June 27, 2024
On Remand, Judge Dismisses Ski Resort Passholders’ COVID-19 Closure Claims

DENVER — On remand from the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a Colorado federal judge again dismissed season passholders’ lawsuit against ski resort owners for refusing to refund their purchases after abruptly ending the season due to COVID-19, finding that the resorts’ contracts with passholders prohibited refunds and the passholders failed to plead a violation of various states’ consumer protection laws, including California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
June 26, 2024
California Federal Court OKs Venue Transfer For COVID Vaccine Securities Suit

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California transferred to a federal court in New York a putative class complaint brought by investors in a biotechnology company who say the company misled them 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, after the parties stipulated to transfer the venue for the convenience of all involved.
June 26, 2024
Unpaid Leave Subclass Certified In Vaccine Mandate Suit Against United Airlines

FORT WORTH, Texas — A federal judge in Texas partially granted a motion for class certification filed by United Airlines employees suing over the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, opining that the proposed subclass of employees who requested religious accommodations and were placed on unpaid leave satisfied Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3)’s superiority requirement, as well as Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a)’s commonality and typicality requirements.
June 25, 2024
Nevada Judge Denies Insurers’ Summary Judgment Motion In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

LAS VEGAS — A Nevada judge denied insurers’ joint motion for partial summary judgment in a coronavirus coverage dispute, finding that the insurers have failed to satisfy their burden of showing that a recent Nevada Supreme Court ruling controls this lawsuit and that the policies at issue expressly extend the scope of coverage afforded for the “Infectious or Contagious Disease” peril.
June 25, 2024
Judge: No Private Right Of Action In CARES Act For COVID Test Reimbursement

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A New York federal judge on June 24 granted a consolidated motion to dismiss filed by a group of health insurers in lawsuits brought by a COVID-19 testing lab seeking reimbursement for testing it claims the insurers should have paid for on behalf of its insureds during the pandemic.
June 20, 2024
2nd Circuit Lifts Stay Of Clothing Boutique’s Appeal In COVID-19 Coverage Suit

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals lifted the stay of a clothing boutique owner insured’s appeal of a federal district court’s order that denied its motion to alter or amend a judgment dismissing its breach of contract and declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking business interruption and property damage coverage for its losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shutdown orders.
June 19, 2024
Whistleblower, Government Settle Qui Tam Suit Against PPP Loan Recipient Church

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee federal court issued an order of dismissal pursuant to a joint stipulation filed by the federal government and a former employee of a church indicating that they had reached a settlement with the church after the employee brought a False Claims Act (FCA) suit accusing the church of making misrepresentations on an application for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan and not using the funds in accordance with the rules for loan forgiveness.
June 18, 2024
Panera $4 Million Advertised Delivery Fee Settlement Ends 3 Class Lawsuits

ST. LOUIS — A class settlement between a fast food chain and customers with a value of more than $4 million was approved by a Missouri judge, ending three class complaints alleging that Panera Bread Co. and Panera LLC (together, Panera) falsely advertised no- or low-cost delivery fees while charging customers additional hidden charges when food delivery increased in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic.