11th Cir. Upholds Dismissal of Restaurant Group’s COVID-19 Coverage Action

ATLANTA — A federal appellate court has affirmed that a fine dining restaurant group cannot recoup COVID-19 losses from Zurich American Insurance Co. because it did not sustain “direct physical loss of or damage” to covered property.

In a Nov. 17 opinion, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals concluded that neither government closure orders nor the virus itself caused a “tangible change” to Tavistock Restaurants Group LLC’s property.

Tavistock owns several fine dining restaurants in Boston and the Orlando Fla., area, including Abe & Louie’s, Atlantic Fish Co., and Timpano.

Tavistock filed claims with Zurich under an “all risk” …