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

Mealey's Coronavirus

June 20, 2025
Mississippi Seeks High Court Review Of Postmarked Ballot Receipt Law Invalidation

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mississippi’s secretary of State filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel decision striking down a COVID-era Mississippi state law providing that mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day may be received by the registrar within five days of Election Day and still be valid.
June 19, 2025
Colorado Panel Partly Reverses Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In COVID-19 Coverage Suit

DENVER — Noting two matters of first impression, a Colorado appellate court on June 18 reversed in part a lower court’s ruling in favor of an insurer in a retirement communities owner’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic after finding that the insured stated a viable claim to recover some of its alleged losses pursuant to the policy’s health care endorsement.
June 19, 2025
Class Denial Affirmed, 2 Claims Reinstated In No-Coins Suit Against Chipotle

PHILADELPHIA — A consumer who sued a fast food chain for withholding change in coins due to a coin shortage during the coronavirus pandemic may proceed with his individual breach of contract and Pennsylvania consumer protection law claims only, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, upholding summary judgment for Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. on the remaining claims and upholding denial of class certification.
June 18, 2025
Preliminary Injunction Partly Granted In Suit To Stop Termination Of COVID Grants

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on June 17 granted in part a motion for a preliminary injunction filed by a group of municipalities and a labor union in their lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, its secretary, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its acting director alleging that the mass termination of federal grants that were a response to the COVID-19 pandemic is unlawful.
June 18, 2025
Split 5th Circuit Affirms Award Of Over $12M In FTC Row With Online PPE Supplier

NEW ORLEANS — A split Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s award of $12,241,035.69 to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for consumer complaints about undelivered and unrefunded personal protective equipment (PPE) in the FTC’s dispute with an online retailer over late and undelivered PPE, finding that the retailer failed to provide any evidence to the contrary regarding the amount of undelivered and unrefunded orders.
June 17, 2025
COVID-19 Testing Lab Seeks Dismissal Of Insurer’s $30M Overpayment Counterclaim

NEWARK, N.J. — In a lawsuit brought by a medical testing lab seeking reimbursement from health insurers for COVID-19 testing, the lab and its billing company moved to dismiss the insurers’ counterclaims and third-party counterclaims alleging that the lab and billing company caused the insurers to overpay the lab for basic testing services by at least $30 million.
June 16, 2025
Law Firm Seeking COVID-19 Employee Retention Credit Refund Settles With Government

PHILADELPHIA — The parties having reported that they have reached a settlement, a Pennsylvania federal judge on June 13 dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit by a law firm seeking a tax refund of $790,318.08 for 2020 and 2021 for employee retention tax credits as provided for by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for wage payments it paid to its employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
June 13, 2025
Magistrate Partly Grants Insured’s Motion To Compel In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

NEW YORK — A federal magistrate judge in New York granted in part and denied in part a holding company for the U.S. interests in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group’s motion to compel its “all risk” insurers to produce certain documents they have withheld as privileged in a coronavirus coverage dispute, directing the insurers to produce communications with their reinsurers and produce documents containing reserve information unless there is another viable ground for withholding.
June 13, 2025
Claimant With Long COVID To Challenge LTD Benefit Denial In 9th Circuit

SAN DIEGO — A claimant who unsuccessfully sought long-term disability (LTD) benefits due to symptoms he attributed to long COVID and cardiac issues is taking his case to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after a California federal judge upheld denial of his claim on de novo review.
June 10, 2025
Washington Panel Reverses, Remands UW’s COVID-19 Coverage Suit For Dismissal

SEATTLE — A Washington appeals court panel on June 9 reversed a decision and remanded for a lower court to dismiss the University of Washington’s lawsuit seeking coverage for losses incurred at its medical and athletic properties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, relying on the recent ruling in Tulalip Tribes of Washington v. Lexington Insurance Co. to reject the insured’s argument as to its entitlement to coverage.
June 10, 2025
3rd Circuit Affirms Ruling In Favor Of Insurer In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 9 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of an insurer in coronavirus coverage disputes that were consolidated on appeal, ruling that under New Jersey law, insurance policies that insure “physical loss or damage” do not cover financial losses that were imposed by mandates in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
June 10, 2025
9th Circuit Sets Argument In Oral Surgeon’s Bid To Revive Disability Benefits Case

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has scheduled oral argument for July 7 in an appeal seeking revival of an oral surgeon’s breach of contract and bad faith suit filed after he unsuccessfully sought disability benefits on the grounds that his comorbid conditions and inability to access recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) made it necessary to close his practice early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
June 06, 2025
Panel Upholds Constructive Discharge Claim Of Employee Who Refused COVID Tests

MINNEAPOLIS — Finding that a former county employee had established that her objection to her employer’s COVID-19 vaccination-or-test policy was based on sincerely held religious beliefs and that she plausibly alleged constructive discharge in being faced with giving up certain benefits, a panel of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 5 reversed the dismissal of her lawsuit by a Minnesota federal court.
June 06, 2025
Vaccine Refusal Discrimination Lawsuit Based On ‘Body-As-A-Temple’ Belief Settles

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Having been advised by counsel that the parties had settled a claim of religious discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act stemming from a former employee’s refusal to become vaccinated against COVID-19 as mandated by the employer, a South Carolina federal magistrate judge on June 5 dismissed the case without prejudice.
June 06, 2025
Claimant Who Sought LTD Benefits After Termination Wins Reversal

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — In minute findings of fact and conclusions of law reversing denial of long-term disability (LTD) benefits for a claimant who has a genetic musculoskeletal disorder, received a kidney transplant and asserted that he “pushed himself to work far beyond his ability to effectively do so,” a California federal judge ruled in part that “[a] plaintiff could be disabled under the Plan without experiencing a loss of earnings and while still working continuously.”
June 05, 2025
Federal Circuit: Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine Did Not Infringe On Patented Lipid

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Delaware federal judge rightly held that a COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna Inc. and related entities does not infringe on a biopharmaceutical company’s patents related to a type of lipid used in mRNA vaccines, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held June 4, saying the lipid in Moderna’s vaccine does not meet the limitations described in the pharmaceutical company’s patents.
June 05, 2025
2nd Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Lab’s Suit Over COVID-19 Testing Reimbursement

NEW YORK — Concluding in part that the appellant “fails to allege that it formed an agreement, express or implied, with any of the Defendants,” the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a summary order affirming dismissal of a suit over reimbursement for COVID-19 testing.
June 04, 2025
Insured’s Negligence Complaint Against Broker Is Untimely, Indiana Panel Affirms

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of an insurance broker in an insured’s lawsuit alleging that the broker negligently failed to provide advice on how to procure event cancellation insurance after the insured discovered that its insurance policies did not cover its business losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, concluding that there are no material questions of fact regarding whether Indiana’s two-year statute of limitations period expired before the insured filed its complaint.
June 04, 2025
Hospital Seeks $11.5 Million Tax Refund For COVID-19 Employee Retention Credits

SPOKANE, Wash. — A Washington hospital filed suit against the United States seeking a tax refund of more than $11.5 million representing employee retention tax credits as provided for by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for having had to partially suspend its business activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
June 02, 2025
Supreme Court Will Not Review Michigan Takings Case Stemming From COVID Shutdowns

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 2 denied the petition for writ of certiorari filed by a Michigan fitness center seeking compensation for having been required by the state to close its properties because of the COVID-19 pandemic after an intermediate state appellate court ordered that a trial court enter summary disposition in favor of the state and the Michigan Supreme Court declined to review that decision.
June 02, 2025
Judge Grants Insurer’s Motion To Dismiss Retailer’s Suit Arising From Coronavirus

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A federal judge in Tennessee granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss a women’s fashion retailer’s breach of contract and declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking business interruption coverage for its losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that the policy terms unambiguously state that the policy does not cover losses resulting directly or indirectly from viruses pursuant to Tennessee law.
May 30, 2025
Masking Policy Retaliation Case Tossed; Constitutional Violations Not Established

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A Wyoming federal judge granted the motion to dismiss of a school board and individual school board members in a lawsuit by school parents and a student alleging several constitutional violations by the school board in connection with its implementation of a masking policy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
May 28, 2025
Tyson Supervisors, Executives Still On Hook For Claims In COVID Worker Deaths Case

DES MOINES, Iowa — Claims alleging gross negligence and fraud against supervisors and executives of Tyson Foods Inc. and Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. by families of workers who died from COVID-19 can be litigated after an Iowa Supreme Court panel reversed and remanded a dismissal.
May 22, 2025
Contamination Exclusion Bars Coverage For COVID-19 Losses, Texas Panel Says

AUSTIN, Texas — A contamination exclusion bars coverage for an insured’s claim seeking coverage for damages and losses incurred as a result of the coronavirus because the exclusion is not ambiguous and clearly includes viruses in its definition of contamination, the Third District Texas Court of Appeals said May 22 in affirming a trial court’s judgment in favor of the insurers.
May 20, 2025
U.S. High Court Refuses To Review Insurers’ Petition In Tribal Jurisdiction Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on May 19 denied insurers’ petition for a writ of certiorari asking it to determine “whether a tribal court can exercise jurisdiction over nonmembers of the tribe based on off-reservation conduct,” leaving undisturbed a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ opinion that affirmed a federal court’s finding that a tribal court has subject matter jurisdiction over a COVID-19 coverage suit involving tribal properties on tribal land.