N.Y. Magistrate Judge Recommends Dismissal of Dental Practice’s COVID-19 Action

NEW YORK — A New York federal magistrate judge has recommended dismissal of a Manhattan dental practice’s COVID-19 action against Sentinel Insurance Company Ltd. on the basis that there was no “direct physical loss of or physical damage to property.”

In a March 18 report and recommendation, Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected Sharde Harvey DDS PLLC’s argument that “the impairment of function” of property created by “operation of law” can constitute “physical damage.”

“Shutdown orders clearly impair the ‘function and value’ of property. Yet courts applying …