Ga. Restaurant Group Loses Bid for COVID-19 Coverage in 11th Cir.

ATLANTA — A federal appellate panel has upheld dismissal of a restaurant management group’s COVID-19 coverage action against Zurich American Insurance Co., affirming that it failed show evidence of “direct physical loss of or damage to” covered property, as required by the policy.

On June 6, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel agreed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia that Restaurant Management Group LLC did not allege that government closure orders or the COVID-19 virus itself caused “tangible injury to property.”

RMG operates several Atlanta restaurants, including Einstein’s, Joe’s on Juniper and Hudson …