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

Mealey's Coronavirus

January 10, 2024
Judge: Complainant Failed To Establish Equitable Tolling To Save Late EEOC Charge

PHOENIX — An Arizona federal court granted the motion of a behavioral health care center to dismiss a complaint by a former employee alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act as well as contract and tort claims, ruling that the employee failed to plead facts supporting the equitable tolling of the 180-day limit to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
January 10, 2024
Federal Judge Again Denies Injunctive Relief In Ferry Workers’ Vaccine Case

BOSTON — A federal judge in Massachusetts denied a renewed motion for a preliminary injunction filed by employees of a Massachusetts ferry operations authority whose requests for religious exemptions from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate were denied after the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals partially vacated the trial court’s preliminary injunctive relief denial.
January 09, 2024
PPP Loan Recipient And Lender Request Stay Pending SBA Determination Of Forgiveness

CHICAGO — In a lawsuit brought by an Illinois transportation services company alleging breach of contract, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty, negligent misrepresentation and promissory estoppel against a bank that determined that only $53,017 of a $1.5 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan was eligible for forgiveness, the parties jointly moved Jan. 8 for a stay pending a final determination by the Small Business Administration (SBA) as to the loan’s forgiveness.
January 09, 2024
5th Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment For Employer In EEOC’s Pandemic Mask Case

NEW ORLEANS — A trial court properly granted summary judgment to an employer accused by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of creating a hostile work environment and constructive discharge after a manager criticized a worker for asking to wear a mask during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic as the claims “are foreclosed by [Fifth Circuit] precedent,” a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled in a per curiam opinion.
January 09, 2024
Airline Pilot Appeals Dismissal Of His Challenge To Airport Masking Requirement

SPOKANE, Wash. — An airline pilot who alleged that he was racially profiled and unlawfully detained by airport police officers in their attempt to enforce the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) COVID-19 masking policy as the pilot passed through security on the way to his flight filed a notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 8 after a Washington federal court dismissed his amended complaint for failure to state a claim.
January 09, 2024
Washington Panel Affirms Stay Of Subcontractor’s Pass-Through Coronavirus Claim

SEATTLE — A Washington appeals court panel on Jan. 8 held that a lower court did not abuse its discretion by staying a subcontractor’s pass-through coronavirus-related claim in its lawsuit against the port of Seattle, a prime contractor and their sureties pending final resolution of the prime contractor’s suit against the port, finding that the plain language of the subcontract explicitly waives the subcontractor’s right to sue under Washington’s Little Miller Act.
January 09, 2024
Governors’ Non-Federalized Guardsman Vaccine Case Jointly Dismissed

TYLER, Texas — A federal judge in Texas filed an order stating that the dismissal of a case by the governors of Texas and Alaska over a COVID-19 vaccine mandate and non-federalized members of the National Guard was automatic after the parties filed a joint stipulation of dismissal.
January 08, 2024
New Jersey Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Wawa’s Coronavirus Coverage Dispute

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey appeals court panel on Jan. 5 affirmed a lower court’s ruling dismissing with prejudice Wawa Inc.’s first amended complaint seeking coverage for its losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that the court’s holdings and reasonings in Mac Prop. Grp., LLC v. Selective Fire & Cas. Ins. Co. apply to Wawa's commercial liability insurance policies and, therefore, no coverage is owed.
January 08, 2024
Military Vaccine Mandate Case Mootness Petition Denied By U.S. Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A petition for a writ of certiorari filed in the U.S. Supreme Court by former members of the military whose challenge to a COVID-19 vaccine requirement while they were still active members was deemed moot due to their departure from the military and the termination of the mandate was denied Jan. 8 by the high court justices.
January 05, 2024
Former Dave Ramsey Employee Appeals Dismissal Of Failed COVID-19 Protection Claims

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A former employee of Dave Ramsey and his company, The Lampo Group LLC, filed a notice of appeal after a federal judge in Tennessee dismissed the employee’s remaining claims in a lawsuit alleging failure to take precautions against the spread of COVID-19 during the initial days of the coronavirus pandemic, defying Tennessee stay at-home-orders by holding large, in-person meetings of approximately 900 employees and telling employees that prayer was the way to avoid infection.
January 05, 2024
Clothing Retailer Asks North Carolina High Court To Review COVID-19 Coverage Suit

RALEIGH, N.C. — A clothing retailer insured petitioned the North Carolina Supreme Court to review an appeals court’s ruling that affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of its lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, challenging the lower courts’ reliance on North State Deli v. Cincinnati Ins. Co. in dismissing its case.
January 04, 2024
Homeowner Alleges Bank Improperly Denied Mortgage Relief Needed During COVID-19

JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi homeowner sued an Illinois mortgage servicer in Mississippi federal court alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act after the servicer foreclosed on her home without offering modifications to her mortgage terms the homeowner needed after experiencing income loss due to her divorce and the COVID-19 pandemic.
January 04, 2024
P.F. Chang’s Coverage For COVID-19 Losses Limited To $1M, California Panel Affirms

LOS ANGELES — A California appeals court on Jan. 3 concluded that P.F. Chang's China Bistro Inc.’s insurance policy language “clearly and unambiguously” provided only $1 million in coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, affirming a lower court’s ruling granting summary adjudication in favor of the insurer.
January 03, 2024
Parent: University’s Class Certification Appeal In Pandemic Case Is Premature

ATLANTA — Emory University’s appeal of a class certification ruling in a lawsuit by the parent of a student who seeks money back after classes and services were impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic is premature as the trial court is currently considering whether to alter or amend its order, the parent argues in an appellee brief filed in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
January 03, 2024
Amazon Worker Seeks Final Approval Of Pandemic Home-Based Expenses Settlement

SAN FRANCISCO — An Amazon worker who sued seeking reimbursement for internet expenses incurred while working from home during the coronavirus pandemic filed a motion in a federal court in California for final approval of a $950,000 class settlement to be paid by Amazon.com Services LLC.
January 03, 2024
11th Circuit: Challenge To Expired COVID-19 Air Travel Restrictions Is Moot

ATLANTA — In a frequent air traveler’s appeal of a Florida federal court’s ruling that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s transportation mask mandate and international traveler COVID-19 testing requirement for reentering the country were valid exercises of its legislative authority, a panel of the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a per curiam opinion vacated the lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the CDC with instructions to dismiss the case as moot.
January 03, 2024
Workers, Walmart Reach $5.2M Class Settlement In COVID-19 Screening Suit

FRESNO, Calif. — Workers who sued Walmart Inc. in a federal court in California alleging that the retailer’s policy requiring nonexempt workers in California to undergo a COVID-19 screening each shift without pay violated state and federal wage-and-hour laws as well as California’s unfair competition law filed a motion for preliminary approval of a $5.2 million class settlement.
December 21, 2023
3rd Circuit: Suit Not ‘Ripe’ In Insurer’s Row With Care Homes Over COVID Coverage

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacated and remanded a district court’s grant of judgment for an insurer seeking a declaration that a nursing home’s COVID-19-related policies’ provision requiring the nursing home to pay the first $3 million in litigation and claims costs applies to multiple events, one for each facility, finding that the district court lacked jurisdiction to determine “whether COVID-19 constitutes multiple health care events” is “ripe for review.”
December 19, 2023
Air Purifier Makers Deny Making False Germ-Killing Claims To Prey On COVID Fears

SAN FRANCISCO — Two manufacturers of air purifiers filed a motion in California federal court to dismiss consumers’ putative class claims that they violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by misleadingly marketing their products as capable of killing airborne pathogens during the COVID-19 pandemic, denying that they made such claims.
December 06, 2023
N.J. Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Tory Burch LLC’s Coronavirus Coverage Dispute

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey appeals panel on Dec. 6 affirmed a lower court’s grant of an insurer’s motion to dismiss Tory Burch LLC’s breach of contract and declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s executive orders issued in response to the virus did not physically deprive the insured from possessing its property.
December 15, 2023
Virus Exclusion Unambiguously Bars Coverage, Panel Affirms In COVID-19 Coverage Suit

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal of an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for its business losses incurred as a result of the coronavirus and subsequent government shutdown orders, finding that the commercial insurance policy's virus exclusion unambiguously precludes coverage for the insured’s claims for loss and damage.
December 14, 2023
Government Waives Response To Petition In Case Challenging Military Vaccine Mandate

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The federal government on Dec. 13 waived its right to respond to a petition for a writ of certiorari filed in the U.S. Supreme Court by former members of the military whose challenge to a COVID-19 vaccine requirement while they were still active members was deemed moot due to their departure from the military and the termination of the mandate.
December 14, 2023
Magistrate Judge Orders Attorney Withdrawal In PPP Loan Forgiveness Denial Case

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico federal magistrate judge on Dec. 13 ordered the attorney representing a mental health treatment facility seeking de novo review of a decision of the Small Business Administration (SBA) in connection with its denial of forgiveness for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan to withdraw from representation of the facility after the attorney was indefinitely suspended from the federal bar of the District of New Mexico in a separate proceeding.
December 13, 2023
Judge: SBA Had Authority To Determine Borrower Was Never Eligible For PPP Loan

AMARILLO, Texas — In a lawsuit brought by a truck dealer against the federal government challenging the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) determination that the dealer was not initially eligible for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan and thus ineligible for loan forgiveness, a Texas federal judge on Dec. 12 granted the government’s cross-motion for summary judgment and denied the dealer’s motion for summary judgment, finding that the SBA did not exceed its statutory authority or act arbitrarily or capriciously in refusing loan forgiveness based on later-determined loan eligibility.
December 13, 2023
Panel: Insured’s Argument In COVID-19 Dispute ‘Runs Into A Wall Of Precedent’

ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of an insurer’s motion to dismiss an insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the shutdown of its event venue in response to the coronavirus pandemic, finding that the insured has failed to plausibly assert any “direct physical loss of or damage to” its property.