Business Owner’s COVID-19 Losses Excluded from Coverage, N.Y. Federal Judge Rules

NEW YORK — COVID-19-related business interruption losses sustained by the owner of a “live event sound and stage business” fall within the policy’s virus exclusion, a New York federal judge has ruled.

In a Dec. 6 order, Judge Laura Swain of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found the alleged losses clearly fall within the ambit of the exclusion, which bars coverage for losses resulting from “any virus capable of inducing physical distress, illness or disease.”

James Servedio alleged government shutdown orders issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic caused his business to sustain significant …