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

Mealey's Coronavirus

January 10, 2025
10th Circuit Accepts Employee’s Late Rehearing Bid In COVID Vaccine Refusal Case

DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a request to accept an untimely petition for rehearing en banc submitted by a former nursing center employee seeking review of a panel judgment affirming the dismissal of her First Amendment free exercise claim stemming from her termination for refusing to be vaccinated for COVID-19 as mandated by a state health board emergency rule.
January 10, 2025
Statute Of Limitations Bars New Jersey University COVID-19 Quarantine Death Lawsuit

NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge dismissed without prejudice a lawsuit brought by the estate and parents of a college sophomore who died while in COVID-19 isolation during the school year after contracting the disease, ruling that the statute of limitations had run on wrongful death and negligence claims and that contract and fraud claims were deficient.
January 10, 2025
Disability Insurer Wrongfully Terminated Benefits, Woman With Long COVID Says

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A woman who was diagnosed with long COVID filed suit on Jan. 9 in California federal court against her disability insurer, alleging that the insurer wrongfully terminated her long-term disability (LTD) benefits after determining that she was able to perform the duties of her own occupation as the director of operations at a museum.
January 10, 2025
Hospital, Insurer Announce Settlement Of Coronavirus Coverage Suit In Federal Court

BOSTON — A hospital insured and its commercial property insurer tell a Massachusetts federal court in a Jan. 9 joint motion that they have reached a settlement in principle of the insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
January 09, 2025
N.Y. Appeals Court Affirms Arbitration Award In Coronavirus Coverage Dispute

NEW YORK — A New York appeals court affirmed a lower court’s ruling that denied an insurer’s request to disqualify a former New York Supreme Court justice as an umpire in an arbitration of a COVID-19 coverage dispute and concluded that the lower court properly determined the insured failed to demonstrate that the arbitration award should be vacated.
January 09, 2025
N.Y. Appeals Court Reinstates Complaint Against 1 Insurer In COVID-19 Coverage Suit

NEW YORK — A New York appeals court concluded that Bowlero Corp. has stated a cause of action against one of its insurers because its complaint sufficiently asserts that a policy’s special time element coverage extension was triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the additional pathogenic materials policy exclusion does not apply, unanimously modifying the lower court’s ruling, reinstating the insured’s complaint against the one insurer and affirming the remainder of the lower court’s decision.
January 08, 2025
$52.8 Million Settlement Approved In New York City Prison Confinement Case

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted final approval of a more than $52.8 million settlement between New York City and prisoners who alleged that they were housed in “stealth isolation confinement facilities indefinitely” and denied due process.
January 08, 2025
Hydroxychloroquine Maker Says Supplier’s Amended Complaint Not What Court Approved

TRENTON, N.J. — A pharmaceutical manufacturer on Jan. 7 requested that a New Jersey federal court grant a pre-motion conference in anticipation of the manufacturer’s motion to strike a pharmaceutical supplier’s second amended complaint (SAC) in connection with its purchase of large quantities of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine phosphate from the manufacturer, contending that the SAC did not comply with the court’s order granting leave to file it, which was issued in connection with a grant of judgment on the pleadings in favor of the manufacturer on three of the supplier’s original five counts.
January 08, 2025
Judge Refuses To Reconsider Dismissal Of Philadelphia Eagles’ Coverage Dispute

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge denied the owner and operator of the Philadelphia Eagles football organization’s motion to reconsider the dismissal of its action seeking a declaration as to coverage for its losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, rejecting the insured’s contention that the present lawsuit “is unlike any other that already has been decided and warrants proceeding past a motion to dismiss.”
January 07, 2025
Federal Trade Commission Announces Refund Process For Bogus COVID-19 Treatments

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission on Jan. 6 announced a refund process for consumers who purchased treatment plans for COVID-19, cancer and Parkinson’s disease, which the FTC says were deceptively marketed by Golden Sunrise Nutraceutical Inc.; some of them were priced at as much as $200,000.
January 06, 2025
Ex-Employee Fired For Refusing COVID Vaccine Amends Discrimination Complaint

PORTLAND, Ore. — A former employee of a sportswear company who was terminated after declining a company-mandated COVID-19 vaccination filed an amended complaint alleging that her employer failed to make a good faith effort to accommodate her religious beliefs, dropping a medical disability-based claim that was dismissed by an Oregon federal judge pursuant to the employer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.
January 03, 2025
Standing Is Among Issues Raised In Motion To Dismiss ERISA Suit Over Surcharges

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Arguing in part that the plaintiffs lack standing, a company sued over surcharges imposed on participants in its self-funded health plan for tobacco use and for failing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 has moved in North Carolina federal court for dismissal.
January 03, 2025
11th Circuit Denies Rehearing In Remanded Assisted Living COVID Wrongful Death Case

ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has denied an assisted living facility’s petition for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc of a split panel decision affirming a judgment of a Florida federal court remanding to state court a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the personal representatives of a woman who died from COVID-19 while under the care of the facility.
December 23, 2024
2nd Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Kodak Shareholder Derivative Action

NEW YORK — The dismissal of a shareholder derivative action alleging that a company’s officers and directors enriched themselves at the company’s expense when they conducted a series of stock transactions was upheld by the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, with the panel finding that the plaintiff shareholders had waived their challenge to the lower court’s factual findings in the case.
December 16, 2024
PPE Reseller Says No Factual Dispute Exists As To Suppliers’ Contractual Failure

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — In a lawsuit brought by a medical equipment company against a health care product distributor and its CEO seeking the return of a $323,640 down payment for a shipment of nitrile gloves it never received, the company moved a New York federal court for summary judgment, contending that there are no undisputed issues of material fact regarding the distributor’s failures to fulfill its contractual obligations and that its defense of commercial impracticability fails.
December 16, 2024
United Tells 5th Circuit Class Incorrectly Certified In Vaccine Mandate Suit

NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Texas erred in partially granting a motion for class certification filed by United Airlines Inc. employees in a case over the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate as Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23’s commonality, predominance or superiority requirements were not satisfied, United Airlines argues in an appellant/cross-appellee brief filed in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
December 16, 2024
N.C. Supreme Court: Retailer’s COVID-19 Loss Excluded By Policy As Contamination

RALEIGH, N.C. — Ruling that a contamination exclusion in a clothing retailer insured’s “all-risk” commercial insurance policy excluded the insured’s claimed losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the North Carolina Supreme Court on Dec. 13 — while disagreeing with its reasoning — affirmed the judgment of a state appellate court, which in turn affirmed a trial court’s dismissal of the insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage under the policy for its losses.
December 16, 2024
N.C. High Court Rules COVID-19 Lockdowns Caused Restaurants’ Direct Physical Loss

RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Supreme Court on Dec. 13 reversed the judgment of a state appellate court that had reversed a trial court’s grant of partial summary judgment in favor of restaurant insureds in a COVID-19 coverage dispute, concluding that the restaurants’ insurance policies did not “unambiguously bar coverage when government orders and threatened viral contamination deprived the policyholder restaurants of their ability to physically use and physically operate property at their insured business premises.”
December 12, 2024
Religious Discrimination In, Disability Discrimination Out In COVID Vaccine Suit

PORTLAND, Ore. — In a lawsuit by a former employee 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 and caused her dismissal, an Oregon federal judge on Dec. 11 adopted the findings and recommendation of a magistrate judge and granted the employer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings as to the employee’s disability discrimination claim but denied the motion as to the employee’s religious discrimination claim.
December 11, 2024
No Coverage Owed For Regal Cinemas’ Coronavirus Losses, 9th Circuit Affirms

PASADENA, Calif.— The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of insurers in Regal Cinemas’ breach of contract lawsuit seeking recovery for its revenue losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that, pursuant to New York law, Regal Cinemas was not insured for its alleged business losses.
December 10, 2024
Panel: Reservation Court Has Jurisdiction In Tribe’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a tribal court has subject matter jurisdiction over an insurance company in a dispute over the tribe’s claims for business interruption losses at its casino caused by the coronavirus pandemic, affirming a lower federal court on the alterative ground that the insurance policy at issue satisfies Montana’s consensual-relationship exception.
December 10, 2024
PPE Seller’s Lawsuit Against Postal Service Stemming From Hacked Email Settles

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and a personal protective equipment (PPE) seller it contracted with to purchase PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic on Dec. 9 filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims a joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice of a lawsuit brought by the seller alleging that the USPS failed to pay it for two shipments of PPE after a third party commandeered the seller’s email system and persuaded the USPS to direct payments to a different bank account.
December 10, 2024
Retail Furniture Insured Voluntarily Dismisses Coronavirus Coverage Suit

PHILADELPHIA — A retail furniture insured filed a notice in a federal court in Pennsylvania to voluntarily dismiss its lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses stemming from the forced closure of its business in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
December 09, 2024
Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In Convention Center’s Suit Arising From Pandemic

SEATTLE — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a federal court’s ruling that granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss an insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its business interruption losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that the insured fails to show that coverage exists for its losses under the policy’s Civil or Military Authority provision and further concluding that the policy's contamination exclusion precludes coverage.
December 05, 2024
Doctor Entitled To Almost $98K In Attorney Fees For Success On Disability Claim

SAN FRANCISCO — A pediatrician who successfully prevailed on her claim for long-term disability (LTD) benefits based on her high risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus is entitled to $97,965 in attorney fees and $625 in costs because the pediatrician succeeded on the merits of her disability claim and the disability insurer presented no special circumstances that would warrant against an award, a California federal judge said in granting the pediatrician’s motion for attorney fees and costs.