Virus Exclusion Bars Coverage for Sportswear Co.’s COVID-19 Losses, Federal Judge Rules

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Kentucky federal judge has awarded Twin City Fire Insurance Co. judgment on the pleadings in a sportswear company’s COVID-19 business interruption action, ruling that the policy’s virus exclusion bars coverage.

In a March 10 order, Chief Judge Danny C. Reeves of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky held that the COVID-19 virus falls squarely under the exclusion.

The action was filed in Kentucky state court by J&H Lanmark Inc., a Lexington, Ky., outdoor apparel store. J&H demands coverage for losses it sustained when it was forced to close its store in compliance …