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Mealey's Coronavirus

  • 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.

  • May 20, 2025

    Supreme Court Rejects Insurer’s Challenge To Ruling In Favor Of Tribal Court Judges

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on May 19 declined an insurer’s invitation to review a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ holding that a tribal court has subject matter jurisdiction over it in a dispute over the tribe’s claims for business interruption losses at its casino caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, refusing to review the appeals court’s ruling that affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of two tribal court judges on the alternative ground that the insurance policy at issue satisfies Montana v. United States’ consensual-relationship exception.

  • May 20, 2025

    School Mask Mandate Not Proper Basis For Removal Of Board Members, Panel Rules

    HARRISBURG, Pa. — Ruling that elected school board members could be removed only for nonfeasance of mandatory duties and not malfeasance or misfeasance, a panel of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in consolidated appeals affirmed the judgment of a trial court that quashed related petitions against two different school boards seeking the removal of board members for having instituted mask mandates in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • May 20, 2025

    Rehearing Denied To ER Doctor Suspended For Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine

    PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied the petition of an emergency room doctor for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc of a panel opinion affirming the judgment of a Pennsylvania federal court, which granted summary judgment in favor of a hospital in the doctor’s lawsuit alleging religious discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA) after the doctor was refused a religious exemption from a company-mandated COVID-19 vaccination and suspended.

  • May 19, 2025

    Rhode Island Federal Judge Halts HHS Termination Of COVID-Related Grants

    PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Rhode Island federal judge on May 16 granted a motion by several states for a preliminary injunction preventing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., from implementing or enforcing a March 24 decision that terminated $11 billion in federal financial assistance used by states for public health emergency preparedness and other public health purposes as no longer necessary because the COVID-19 pandemic had ended.

  • May 16, 2025

    Attorney Fees Motion Deemed Premature After Defense Verdict In Pandemic Policy Case

    ST. LOUIS — A federal judge in Missouri found premature an employee’s pro se motion to block any request for attorney fees or sanctions after a jury returned a verdict for her employer in her lawsuit challenging the organization’s pandemic policies.

  • May 16, 2025

    6th Circuit Finds No Abuse Of Discretion In Long COVID LTD Benefits Denial

    CINCINNATI — Ruling against a claimant who said in her opening brief that “this appears to be the first ‘Long COVID’ disability case to come before the Court,” the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 15 affirmed a judgment upholding denial of her claim for long-term disability (LTD) benefits, concluding that the insurer’s “decision was neither procedurally nor substantively unreasonable.”

  • May 14, 2025

    Class Denied, University Pandemic Closure Suit Dismissed Following Remand

    ATLANTA — A federal judge in Georgia denied certification of a previously certified class in a lawsuit by the parent of an Emory University student and dismissed for lack of jurisdiction the complaint that sought money back after classes and services were impacted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

  • May 14, 2025

    Insurer Gets LTD Benefits Case Transferred To Different California Federal Court

    SAN FRANCISCO — An Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit in which a claimant who says she has “disabling symptoms” of long COVID is challenging denial of her claim for long-term disability (LTD) and life insurance waiver of premium (LWOP) benefits will be transferred to a different federal court in California after a judge considered “deference owed to Plaintiff’s choice of forum, convenience, and the local interest in the case.”

  • May 13, 2025

    6th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Ruling In Air, Space Force Members’ Vaccine Case

    CINCINNATI — A trial court properly dismissed as moot a class complaint by members of the U.S. Air Force and Space Force who refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons after the U.S. Supreme Court vacated as moot the preliminary injunction previously issued in the case, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled May 12 in an unpublished opinion.