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

Mealey's Coronavirus

October 03, 2023
California Panel Reverses Ruling In Insurers’ Favor In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

LOS ANGELES — A California appeals panel on Oct. 2 reversed and remanded a lower court’s order granting a group of insurers’ motion for judgment on the pleadings in a real estate investment firm’s coronavirus coverage dispute, rejecting the insurers’ argument that the pollution exclusion barred coverage.
October 03, 2023
Summary Judgment Sought In Challenge To California COVID Misinformation Ban

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A group of physicians moved a California federal court for summary judgment in their lawsuit against Gov. Gavin Newsom and several other California officials 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.
October 03, 2023
5th Circuit Reinstates City Worker’s Retaliation Claim In Pandemic Leave Case

NEW ORLEANS — A Texas city employee who alleged that she was fired after taking leave when she lost her childcare during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic may proceed with her Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) retaliation claim, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Oct. 2 in a per curiam opinion, finding that when the facts presented were viewed in the worker’s favor, they could lead a reasonable jury to find that the reason given for the termination was pretextual.
October 02, 2023
Federal Judge Rules For Insurer In Landlord’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on Sept. 29 granted a commercial property insurer’s motion for summary judgment in a coronavirus coverage suit, noting that the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has held in 11012 Holdings, Inc. v. Sentinel Ins. Co. that, pursuant to New York law, the unambiguous words “physical loss or damage” “require actual physical loss of or damage to the insured's property.”
October 02, 2023
High Court Will Not Review Airline Passengers’ Challenge To TSA COVID-19 Mask Rule

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 2 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari of two airline passengers seeking review of a per curiam opinion of a panel of the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denying the passengers’ petition for review of the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) regulations enforcing the COVID-19 federal transportation mask mandate.
September 29, 2023
Idaho High Court Affirms Ruling Upholding Care Home Citation For COVID Violations

BOISE, Idaho — A unanimous Idaho Supreme Court affirmed a lower court decision denying an assisted living facility’s petition for review of an enforcement action that cited the facility for failure to provide a safe living environment for residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that “substantial evidence” supported a hearing officer’s conclusion that the facility’s “failure to properly implement infectious disease controls created an unsafe living environment.”
September 28, 2023
3rd Circuit Affirms Remand Order In COVID Death Suit Against Decedent’s Employer

PHILADELPHIA — A panel of the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 27 affirmed a lower court’s order granting an estate administrator’s motion to remand to state court a wrongful death and negligence suit filed against a nursing home after the decedent’s death from COVID-19, which she purportedly contracted while employed there, finding in part that remand was correct because the suit does not allege willful misconduct under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act.
September 28, 2023
Panel: Insured Fails To Satisfy Delaware’s Long-Arm Statute In COVID-19 Dispute

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 27 affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal of a regional sports television network insured’s breach of contract and declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, rejecting the insured’s argument that Delaware’s long-arm statute subsection (c)(1) confers personal jurisdiction over the insurer.
September 27, 2023
Air Purifiers’ False Germ-Killing Claims Preyed On COVID Fears, Plaintiffs Say

SAN FRANCISCO — A group of consumers in a new putative class action filed in California federal court assert that two manufacturers of air purifiers “prey on consumers’ fears” of germs and during the COVID-19 pandemic misrepresented their products as capable of killing airborne pathogens, allegedly in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
September 27, 2023
11th Circuit Denies Rehearing Sought By University Student In Pandemic Class Suit

ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for rehearing or rehearing en banc filed by a University of Miami student after a panel found that her putative class complaint seeking partial refunds after all schooling was transitioned to online learning due to the coronavirus pandemic failed to show that the student was “entitled to damages stemming from any alleged breach of contract, unjust enrichment, or inadequate refunds on the part of” the school.
September 26, 2023
Panel Affirms Demurrer In Entertainment Conglomerate’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit

LOS ANGELES — A California appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s ruling that sustained commercial property insurers’ demurer to an entertainment conglomerate insured’s complaint seeking coverage for its economic losses arising from the coronavirus, finding that, until the U.S. Supreme Court provides guidance in pending cases, it sides with the vast majority of courts that have ruled that direct physical loss or damage to property is a prerequisite for coverage.
September 25, 2023
Illinois Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurers’ Favor In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

CHICAGO — An Illinois panel on Sept. 22 affirmed a lower court’s grant of commercial property insurers’ motion to dismiss an insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its business income losses and extra expenses arising from the coronavirus, finding that no coverage was triggered because the insured failed to demonstrate that it incurred damage of a physical nature.
September 22, 2023
Final Approval Of $130,000 Class Settlement Sought In Vaccine Mandate Dispute

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Current and former employees of Ascension Michigan filed a motion on Sept. 21 in a federal court in Michigan seeking final approval of a $130,000 settlement in a class lawsuit over the health care provider’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy.
September 22, 2023
COVID-19 Test Provider Denied Reimbursement From Insurer Requests Rehearing En Banc

SAN FRANCISCO — A COVID-19 test provider petitioned the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for rehearing en banc 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, asserting that the panel erred in determining that the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act does not provide an implied private right of action to diagnostic testing providers.
September 22, 2023
Airlines Seek Dismissal Of Suit Stemming From Enforcement Of COVID-19 Masking Rules

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A group of airlines renewed their dismissal motions as to claims by an airline passenger that their enforcement of the federal transportation mask mandate imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was illegal and that they conspired to discriminate against him because of his disability after a Kentucky federal judge dismissed as moot or otherwise nonjusticiable all claims against the CDC and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
September 20, 2023
SMU Student Tells Texas High Court That Pandemic Liability Act Isn’t Retroactive

AUSTIN, Texas — The retroactive provision of the Texas Pandemic Liability Protection Act (PLPA) “is unconstitutional as applied to” Southern Methodist University (SMU) in a putative class complaint over the school’s closure during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, a student argues in an appellant brief filed in the Texas Supreme Court addressing a question certified by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
September 20, 2023
BCBS Employees Fired For Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine File Class Suit

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Three workers filed a class complaint against BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Inc. (BCBS) in a federal court in Tennessee alleging that they were fired for their religious convictions after refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
September 20, 2023
EEOC Sues United Healthcare For Denying Religious Exemption From Vaccine Mandate

COLUMBUS, Ohio — United Healthcare Services Inc. violated a work-from-home employee’s rights when it denied her request for exemption from its COVID-19 vaccine mandate and fired her, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleges in a complaint filed Sept. 19 in a federal court in Ohio.
September 19, 2023
Borrowers Allege In Class Action That Lender Wrongfully Denied, Shorted COVID-19 Aid

PHILADELPHIA — Borrowers filed a class action complaint in federal court in Pennsylvania alleging that their lender violated state and federal statutes when it denied some borrowers COVID-19 aid and approved only a portion of the aid for others claiming to be eligible for more funding.
September 19, 2023
University Tuition Payers Denied Class Cert In Case Seeking Pandemic Refunds

PHOENIX — A proposed class of individuals who paid Grand Canyon University (GCU) on-campus tuition, fees and room and board for the spring 2020 term failed to show that common questions predominate, a federal judge in Arizona ruled, denying the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification.
September 19, 2023
U.S. Recovers Damages Against Trucking Company That Fraudulently Obtained PPP Loan

OXFORD, Miss. — A Mississippi federal court granted the United States’ motion for summary judgment in a False Claims Act lawsuit stemming from a fraudulently obtained Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan during the COVID-19 pandemic, awarding more than $450,000 in damages and assessing civil penalties against a trucking company and its owner.
September 18, 2023
Government Urges High Court To Uphold ‘Bedrock Principle’ Of Chevron Deference

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. secretary of Commerce, two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the government) urge the U.S. Supreme Court in a Sept. 15 brief to not overrule the doctrine of Chevron deference in a challenge to fishery regulations that were upheld by the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, writing that doing so could “cause disruption” to complex federal regulatory schemes.
September 18, 2023
Nevada High Court Vacates Ruling Against Insurer In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Granting a commercial property insurer’s petition for writ of mandamus in a coverage dispute arising from the forced closure of a shopping mall in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Nevada Supreme Court directed the lower court to vacate its order denying the insurer’s motion for summary judgment on the insured’s breach of contract and declaratory relief claims after finding that the insured’s evidence failed to create a genuine dispute of material fact regarding the existence of “direct physical loss or damage” to trigger coverage and that the policy’s pollution and contamination exclusion further barred coverage.
September 18, 2023
Maine Health Centers Argue Against High Court Review Of COVID-19 Vaccine Challenge

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Maine health centers accused by employees of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when they fired workers who refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19 filed a respondent brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 15, arguing that high court review is not necessary as the accommodations being sought by the workers is not reasonable, even under the standard clarified in Groff v. DeJoy.
September 14, 2023
5th Circuit: Doctors’ Ultra Vires Claim Against FDA For Ivermectin Tweets Is Valid

NEW ORLEANS — A panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of a Texas federal court dismissing the lawsuit of a group of doctors claiming that the Food and Drug Administration exceeded its statutory authority when it created social media and government website posts recommending that people not use ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19, ruling that the posts were agency action and plausibly ultra vires under the Administrative Procedure Act.