D.C. Federal Judge Awards Insurer Summary Judgment in COVID-19 Business Interruption Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia judge has awarded Erie Insurance Exchange summary judgment in a case involving coverage for COVID-19-related business interruption losses, ruling that the plaintiffs — a group of prominent restaurants in the D.C. area — did not suffer “direct and accidental loss of or damage to covered property.”

In the Aug. 6 ruling, Associate Judge Kelly Higashi of the District of Columbia Superior Court found that none of the cases cited by the restaurants stand for the proposition that a government order, standing alone, constitutes a direct physical loss for insurance purposes.

“Courts have rejected …