Portland, Ore. Businesses Not Covered for COVID-19 Losses, Federal Judge Rules

PORTLAND, Ore. — The owners of several Portland, Ore., restaurants, hotels and retail centers are not covered for economic losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and related government closure orders because they did not sustain “direct physical loss of or damage to property,” a federal judge has ruled.

In a Sept. 7 order, Judge Marco A. Hernandez of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon agreed with defendant Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. that the property must be physically changed in some manner for coverage to be triggered.

The plaintiffs are Airport Inn LLC, which operates the Radisson Hotel …