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

Mealey's Coronavirus

August 24, 2023
Homeowner Alleges In Class Action Suit That Lender Unjustly Denied COVID-19 Aid

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A homeowner filed a class action in Pennsylvania federal court alleging violations of federal statutes and the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (UTPCPL) when a lender denied him a COVID-19 loss mitigation option on the ground that it would not have reduced the principal and interest portions of his Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage.
August 24, 2023
Remaining Civil Rights Claims In University COVID-19 Death Dismissed; Case Remanded

PITTSBURGH — In a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the administrator of a university student who died of COVID-19, a Pennsylvania federal judge on Aug. 23 sua sponte dismissed with prejudice civil rights claims against the employee of a company that owned and operated student housing and remanded the case to state court to address the surviving state law claims, ruling that the claims against the employee suffered from the same inadequacies as those previously dismissed against the university, university employees and various third parties.
August 24, 2023
Employees, Amazon File Notice Of Settlement In COVID-19 Screenings Case

FRESNO, Calif. — A notice of settlement was filed in a federal court in California by Amazon.com Services LLC and employees who filed a putative class complaint accusing the online retailer of failing to pay workers for time spent undergoing COVID-19 symptom screenings before their shifts.
August 23, 2023
University Of Miami Student Seeks Rehearing By 11th Circuit In Pandemic Class Suit

ATLANTA — A University of Miami student petitioned the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for rehearing or rehearing en banc after a panel found that her putative class complaint seeking partial refunds after all schooling was transitioned to online learning in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic failed to show that she was “entitled to damages stemming from any alleged breach of contract, unjust enrichment, or inadequate refunds on the part of” the school.
August 23, 2023
Illinois Law, Not New Jersey Law, Governs Travel Insurance Policies, Judge Says

NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss a putative class action complaint alleging claims for violations of New Jersey law, breach of contract and bad faith based on the insurer’s denial of claims for the reimbursement of premiums paid for travel insurance policies following trip cancellations caused by the coronavirus pandemic because the master policy, which governs the travel insurance policies, is governed by Illinois law and not New Jersey law.
August 23, 2023
Judge: Nature Of Statements By PPE Supplier To Secure Contract Is Question Of Fact

WICHITA, Kan. — A Kansas federal judge denied a summary judgment motion of a personal protective equipment seller in a lawsuit brought by a customer alleging breach of a contract to purchase nitrile gloves and misrepresentation, finding that he could not conclude as a matter of law from the summary judgment record that the supplier had been excused from performance or that statements it made to secure the contract were not fraudulent.
August 22, 2023
8th Circuit Affirms No Coverage Ruling In Kansas City Restaurants’ COVID-19 Suit

ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 21 affirmed a Missouri federal court’s judgment in favor of a commercial property insurer in a breach of contract lawsuit brought by the owner of several Kansas City restaurants and bars that were forced to close or reduce their operations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that even if the insured discovered the coronavirus at its insured properties, it failed to meet the standard for physicality.
August 21, 2023
Air Force Secretary, Others Ask High Court To Consider Vaccine Mandate Class Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court should hear the appeal in a lawsuit filed by members of the U.S. Air Force and Space Force who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons after the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals left in place class certification and a classwide injunction as the vaccine mandate has been rescinded, the appeals are moot and vacatur is appropriate under United States v. Munsingwear, Inc., the Air Force secretary and others argue in a petition for a writ of certiorari.
August 21, 2023
California High Court Agrees To Review Tribe’s Coronavirus Coverage Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court granted an Indian tribe insured’s petition to review 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.
August 21, 2023
Illinois Panel Modifies, Affirmatively Answers Care Home COVID Immunity Question

ELGIN, Ill. — An Illinois appeals court answered in the affirmative a question certified to it from a lower court after modifying it to ask whether a specific executive order issued by the Illinois governor grants “immunity for ordinary negligence claims to healthcare facilities that rendered assistance to the State during the COVID-19 pandemic,” finding that the order “neither overrides nor is inconsistent with the General Assembly’s grant of authority to the Governor” pursuant to the Illinois Emergency Management Act.
August 17, 2023
Parents Challenging Schools’ COVID-19 Measures Fail To Establish Cognizable Claims

HAMMOND, Ind. — An Indiana federal magistrate judge granted the motion of a public school corporation, its superintendent and several school board members in a lawsuit challenging the measures the school corporation took in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as being in violation of Indiana state law and the state and federal constitutions, finding that a controversy no longer existed given the termination of all COVID-19-related measures and that the parents otherwise failed to state cognizable claims.
August 16, 2023
BYU Student Seeks Leave To Refile For Class Certification In Pandemic Closure Case

OGDEN, Utah — A Brigham Young University (BYU) student filed a motion in a federal court in Utah seeking leave to file a renewed motion for class certification in a lawsuit over the school’s failure to provide partial refunds of tuition and fees after classes were switched to online-only during the coronavirus pandemic; the motion came less than a month after the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied rehearing after upholding the trial court’s denial of class certification.
August 16, 2023
8th Circuit: Pharmacies OK Denying Ivermectin, Hydroxychloroquine For COVID

ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has affirmed that Minnesota law does not recognize a right of “self-determination” that overrides the judgment of the Food and Drug Administration, medical organizations and two pharmacies that ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine cannot be dispensed off-label to treat COVID-19.
July 27, 2023
COMMENTARY: COVID-19, Generative AI And The “Lost Generation” Of Lawyers

By Jennifer M. Driscoll and Linn F. Freedman
August 15, 2023
University Of Colorado’s $5M Settlement Approved In Pandemic Remote Learning Case

DENVER — A judge in Colorado granted final approval of a $5 million class settlement by the Board of Regents of the University of Colorado, ending claims for damages by students filed after the school transitioned to online learning in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
August 11, 2023
More StubHub Ticket Purchasers Sent To Arbitration In Pandemic Cancellation Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that a trial court erred in a class lawsuit accusing StubHub Inc. of changing its refund policies for events canceled or rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic when it denied a motion by the second ticket marketer to compel to arbitration five ticket purchasers who used the company’s mobile application after signing into the website because the “sign-in screen is nearly identical to the website checkout screen that the district court found was sufficient to compel the other forty-eight Plaintiffs to arbitration.”
August 11, 2023
Georgia Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Coronavirus Coverage Dispute

ATLANTA — A Georgia appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s grant of insurers’ motion to dismiss their mutual insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the “overwhelming majority” of federal and state courts have rejected similar pandemic coverage claims.
August 11, 2023
Connecticut High Court Reverses Dismissal Of Wrongful Death Suit Against Doctors

HARTFORD, Conn. — The Connecticut Supreme Court reversed and remanded a trial court’s judgment that dismissed gross negligence claims against three physicians related to the death of a woman whose life-threatening heart condition was misdiagnosed during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that the physicians were not immune for claims of gross negligence under the governor’s executive order granting immunity to health care professionals or under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act.
August 10, 2023
Magistrate Recommends Denial Of Entry Of Default Sought Against PPE Supplier

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A New York federal magistrate judge recommended that the entry of default sought by a New York medical equipment company against a health care product distributor and its CEO be denied in the medical equipment company’s lawsuit seeking the return of a $323,640 down payment for a shipment of nitrile gloves it never received and additional compensatory and punitive damages.
August 10, 2023
Amazon’s $950,000 Settlement In Home-Based Expenses Suit Preliminarily Approved

SAN FRANCISCO — A class settlement of $950,000 to be paid by Amazon.com Services LLC in a case in which an employee alleges that he and others were improperly denied reimbursement for home internet expenses incurred during the couple of years of the coronavirus pandemic was granted preliminary approval by a federal judge in California after the proposed notice, order and judgment were amended.
August 09, 2023
Civil Rights Claims In Suit Stemming From University COVID-19 Death Dismissed

PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania federal judge dismissed with prejudice civil rights claims in the amended complaint of the estate administrator of a university student who died of COVID-19 in a lawsuit that also alleged state law claims of wrongful death, survival and willful misconduct against the university and others, finding that the administrator could not establish that there had been conduct that “shocks the conscience” given the several measures taken by the university to reduce the risk posed by COVID-19 during the pandemic.
August 09, 2023
Urban Outfitters Asks 3rd Circuit To Stay Appeal Of Coronavirus Coverage Suit

PHILADELPHIA — URBN US Retail LLC (Urban Outfitters) asked the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to stay its appeal of a lower federal court’s dismissal of its coverage lawsuit arising from the COVID-19 pandemic until the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has decided two cases that involve “the same issues of insurance law.”
August 09, 2023
NYU’s Rehearing Petition Denied By 2nd Circuit After Pandemic Closure Ruling

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit denied a petition for rehearing en banc filed by New York University (NYU) after a split panel ruled that a parent of an NYU student who filed a putative class complaint against the school over its closure in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic lacks standing to bring her claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment and money had and received but that the district court erred in denying the filing of an amended complaint to add a current student.
August 08, 2023
Panel: Louisville Restaurant Owner Fails To Allege Loss In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

FRANKFORT, Ky. — A Kentucky appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer in a Louisville restaurant insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its lost income when it limited operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, finding the insured failed to assert a “loss” as defined by the policy.
August 08, 2023
California Appellate Panel Issues Ruling On Pandemic Work-From-Home Expenses

SAN FRANCISCO — A California trial court erred when it sustained an employer’s demurrer and found that the employer was absolved of liability for reimbursing workers for their expenses while working from home due to a stay-at-home order issued by the governor during the coronavirus pandemic, a First District California Court of Appeal panel ruled.