As noted in a previous newsletter, Division Two of the Washington State Court of Appeals issued an opinion on April 19, 2022 in Beasley v. Geico General Insurance Company and Aaron Yaws, No. 54997-2-II, which addressed the meaning of the term “actual damages” under the Washington Insurance Fair Conduct Act (IFCA), RCW 48.30.015 and holding that the term “actual damages” includes noneconomic damages. Beasley v. Geico General Insurance Company and Aaron Yaws, No. 54997-2-II. The unpublished part of the opinion also addressed the issue of tendering “undisputed” amounts in the context of UM/UIM claims, which had not been addressed in prior case law in Washington.
Last week, The Court of Appeals withdrew the Beasley opinion in response to a Motion for Reconsideration filed by GEICO. The Order granted the Motion for Reconsideration in part, withdrew the earlier opinion, and advised that a revised opinion would be filed. To date, the revised opinion has not yet been issued. As a result, there is no information regarding which portion of the prior opinion has been reconsidered. Nevertheless, and as a result of the withdrawal, the earlier Beasley opinion is no longer good law and should be disregarded by insureds and insurers alike.
Lether Law Group currently represents multiple insurers in coverage litigation in state and federal courts in Washington involving claims under IFCA. If you have questions about the implications of Beasley or general questions in regard to pending insurance claims and compliance with Washington insurance law, please feel free to contact our office.
Ellen Mcgraw
Associate Attorney
Meg is from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She received a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sustainability from the University of Oklahoma, where she graduated with honors. She went on to receive her Juris Doctor from Lewis & Clark Law School, graduating cum laude. Before joining Lether Law Group, Meg served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Chief Judge Marco A. Hernández in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.
As noted in a previous newsletter, Division Two of the Washington State Court of Appeals issued an opinion on April 19, 2022 in Beasley v. Geico General Insurance Company and Aaron Yaws, No. 54997-2-II, which addressed the meaning of the term “actual damages” under the Washington Insurance Fair Conduct Act (IFCA), RCW 48.30.015 and holding that the term “actual damages” includes noneconomic damages. Beasley v. Geico General Insurance Company and Aaron Yaws, No. 54997-2-II. The unpublished part of the opinion also addressed the issue of tendering “undisputed” amounts in the context of UM/UIM claims, which had not been addressed in prior case law in Washington.
Last week, The Court of Appeals withdrew the Beasley opinion in response to a Motion for Reconsideration filed by GEICO. The Order granted the Motion for Reconsideration in part, withdrew the earlier opinion, and advised that a revised opinion would be filed. To date, the revised opinion has not yet been issued. As a result, there is no information regarding which portion of the prior opinion has been reconsidered. Nevertheless, and as a result of the withdrawal, the earlier Beasley opinion is no longer good law and should be disregarded by insureds and insurers alike.
Lether Law Group currently represents multiple insurers in coverage litigation in state and federal courts in Washington involving claims under IFCA. If you have questions about the implications of Beasley or general questions in regard to pending insurance claims and compliance with Washington insurance law, please feel free to contact our office.
Thomas Lether
Founder and Managing Shareholder.
Thomas Lether is a graduate of the University of Puget Sound and the University of Puget Sound Law School. He has been involved in insurance and commercial litigation since 1988. Mr. Lether’s primary clients include numerous National and International insurance companies, several smaller insurers and independent adjusting firms. He also represents a number of contractors, property owners, and business owners. His practice predominantly involves the representation of insurance companies and individuals in the investigation, adjustment and defense of complex coverage matters.
As insurance professionals and insurance lawyers are aware, Washington State is historically one of the most liberal jurisdictions in the country. This has often led to decisions and rulings that favor policy holders. However, on August 25, 2022, the Washington State Supreme Court issued a decision finding that COVID-19 related business income losses are not covered under standard commercial property insurance policies. Hill & Stout, PLLC v. Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance Company, Cause No. 100211-4.
Hill & Stout is a Washington dentistry practice. When the COVID-19 pandemic first arose in the State of Washington, Governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency and issued multiple proclamations relating to public health and safety, including a proclamation prohibiting all non-emergent dental procedures. In light of the emergence of COVID-19 and the governmental and societal response thereto, Hill & Stout joined thousands of businesses in Washington and around the country in seeking Business Interruption coverage under its commercial property policy.
Mutual of Enumclaw (MOE) denied Hill & Stout’s claim effectively for two reasons. First, the business income loss coverage is triggered only where there is “direct physical loss or damage” to the insured premises. Second, the MOE policy contained an exclusion for any losses caused by a virus. Hill & Stout sued in the King County Superior Court.
Since the inception of the global pandemic, thousands of lawsuits relating to business income loss coverage have been filed by businesses seeking to recover their losses. The courts around the U.S. have been nearly universal in finding that there is no coverage for these claims. In fact, as Lether Law Group has previously reported, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington has previously ruled in favor of insurers on these claims. Germack v. The Dentists Insurance Company, W.D. Wa. Cause No. 2:20-cv-00661-BJR.
However, until Hill & Stout, the highest court in the State of Washington had not fully and finally resolved the issue in this jurisdiction. In Hill & Stout, the Supreme Court found that there is no coverage for COVID-related business losses because the virus and the governmental proclamations related thereto do not cause direct physical loss or damage to the insured premises. The insured had focused their argument on the claim that they had a “loss” of the business. The Supreme Court rejected that argument finding that the loss was not “physical”.
The Court went on to find that the efficient proximate cause of the business losses was not the governmental response to the virus, but the virus itself. As a result, the Court held that the virus exclusion would operate to preclude coverage, even if there was a direct physical loss.
Lether Law Group represents multiple carriers in Washington and in jurisdictions around the United States in COVID-related business income loss claims. This includes the Germack case referenced above. If you would like to speak with us regarding these or any other claims, please contact us at any time.
Kevin J. Kay
Shareholder
Kevin is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University and Seattle University School of Law. He is licensed to practice in the state and federal courts of Washington and admitted to practice before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition, Kevin has appeared pro hac vice in courts in Louisiana and California. Kevin has represented insurers and insureds in coverage for 16 years. These claims involve personal and commercial auto policies, commercial general liability, professional liability, and E&O insurance. Kevin has also advised and represented risk pools, insurers, and insured in matters ranging from automobile/bus accidents to catastrophic landslides. His practice also includes construction defect disputes, personal injury claims, commercial leases, and significant property damage disputes.
The rapid spread of COVID-19 throughout the United States and resulting governmental shut-down orders have sparked a large increase in business interruption claims and subsequent litigation. While “direct physical loss” and “necessary suspension” policy language have been addressed in most jurisdictions, the less commonly litigated terms of civil authority coverage and virus exclusions are the subject of debate in many courts across the country. The following is a summary of notable rulings on COVID-19 business interruption coverages:
In re: COVID-19 Business Interruption Protection Insurance Litigation, United Statees Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, MDL No. 2942, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144446: The Panel denied the plaintiffs’ motion to transfer and consolidate 263 cases across 48 districts into a single industry-wide business interruption coverage case. The Panel found that consolidation was inappropriate because differences overwhelmed any common factual questions – there was no common defendant, different policy forms, and a diverse group of plaintiffs located throughout the United States. Moreover, the Panel found that consolidation would be inefficient for all parties and courts involved.
10E, LLC v. Travelers Indem. Co., United States District Court for the Central District of California Case No. 2:20-cv-04418-SVW-AS, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156827: The court granted Travelers’ Motion to Dismiss, interpreting “direct physical loss” to require “the permanent dispossession of something” as opposed to a temporary restriction of the use of property. The 10E court found that the plaintiff-restaurant was not entitled to business interruption loss or civil authority coverage arising from governmental orders restricting restaurants to take-out and delivery due to COVID-19.
Gavrilides Management Co. v. Michigan Insurance Co., Michigan Circuit Court Case No. 20-258-CB-C30: The court granted Michigan Insurance Company’s motion to dismiss after finding that a loss of income due to orders limiting a restaurant’s operations to take-out and delivery in response to COVID-19 did not satisfy the requirement of physical loss of or damage to property. The Gavrilides court stated that “physical alteration to or physical damage or tangible damage to the integrity of the building” was required for coverage.
Malaube, LLC v. Greenwich Ins. Co., United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida Case No. 20-22615-Civ, 2020 US Dist LEXIS: Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres recommended granting Greenwich Insurance Company’s Motion to Dismiss COVID-19 Business Interruption claims brought by a restaurant. Where government orders prohibited indoor dining but allowed delivery and take-out orders, Judge Torres found that no “direct physical loss or damage” occurred because the government orders never made the plaintiff’s restaurant uninhabitable or substantially unusable.
Rose’s 1, LLC v. Erie Ins. Exch., District of Columbia Superior Court Case No. 2020 CA 002424 B, 2020 D.C. Super. LEXIS 10: The court granted summary judgment after finding that government orders restricting business operations do not constitute “direct physical loss.” The court found that that the government’s orders did not cause any “direct” change to properties, that the orders did not have any “effect on the material or tangible structure of the insured properties,” and the orders did not constitute a “loss” because they did not have any “direct physical intrusion on to the insured property.”
Diesel Barbershop, LLC, v. State Farm Lloyds¸ United States District Court for the Western District of Texas Case No. 5:20-CV-461-DAE, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147276: The court granted State Farm’s motion to dismiss, finding that business interruption coverage required tangible injury to property and upholding the policy’s virus exclusion. Specifically, the court found that the shut-down orders were a sequential result of the presence of COVID-19, and therefore, “the primary root cause” of Plaintiffs’ business closure.
Social Life Magazine, Inc. v. Sentinel Ins. Co. Ltd., United States District Court for the Southern District of New York No. 20 Civ. 3311 (VEC): The court denied plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction because COVID-19 does not cause physical damage to property, rather, “it damages a person’s lungs.”
Optical Services USA, et al. v. Franklin Mutual Insurance Company, New Jersey Superior Court Case No. BER-L-3681-20: The court denied Franklin Mutual’ s motion to dismiss, finding that plaintiffs should have the opportunity to engage in issue-oriented discovery to fully establish the record regarding direct covered losses and to amend their complaint accordingly. The court also found that Franklin Mutual failed to provide any controlling legal authority supporting their interpretation of “direct physical loss,” admitting that the New Jersey legal authority addressing this issue was limited.
Martinez v. Allied Insurance Company of America, United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Case No. 2:20-cv-00491-FtM-66NPM: The court granted Allied’s motion to dismiss, upholding the policy’s virus exclusion. The court found that plaintiff failed to assert that his loss or damage was due to a “covered cause of loss.” Rather, the court found that because the plaintiff’s damages resulted from COVID-19, neither the governmental orders narrowing plaintiff’s dental services nor the disinfection of the dental office constituted a “covered cause of loss” pursuant to the policy’s virus exclusion.
Studio 417, Inc., et al. v. The Cincinnati Insurance Company, United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri Case No. 20-cv-03127-SRB, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147600: The court denied Cincinnati’s motion to dismiss, finding that the plaintiff had adequately stated a claim for direct physical loss and claims under the policy’s civil authority, ingress and egress, and dependent property coverages. Specifically, the court found that plaintiff’s adequately alleged a causal relationship between COVID-19 and their losses – that COVID-19 “is a physical substance” that attached to and deprived Plaintiff’s of their property, making it “unsafe and unusable”.
Turek Enterprises, Inc. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, et al., United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Case No. 20-11655, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161198: The court granted State Farm’s motion to dismiss, finding that “direct physical loss” required tangible damage and that coverage was otherwise precluded by the virus exclusion. Specifically, the governmental orders and plaintiff’s business interruption losses resulting therefrom “would not have occurred but for COVID-19.”
Lether Law Group currently represents several national insurers in COVID-19 business interruption litigation in state and federal courts in Washington, Oregon, California, and Pennsylvania. If you have questions about any state-specific requirements which have been enacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic or general questions in regard to pending insurance claims and compliance with any regulatory requirements, please feel free to contact our office.
The above article is an opinion based on various resources such as industry knowledge and is not to be construed as legal advice or to be used as such. If you require legal advice or would like to inquire further about the information contained in this article, please feel free to contact our office directly.
While we all continue to strive for a sense of normalcy in the midst of the ever-changing COVID-19 crisis, new arguments in support of purported coverage for COVID-19 related Business Interruption claims continue to emerge. One such recent argument is based on the April 13, 2020, ruling by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in Friends of Devito v. Wolf, No. 68 MM 2020, 2020 Pa. LEXIS 1987, (Apr. 13, 2020). In Friends of Devito, several businesses and one individual sought extraordinary relief from the Pennsylvania Governor’s Executive Order, which compelled closure of physical operations for non-life-sustaining businesses to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The Petitioners argued that the order was invalid for a number of reasons including lack of constitutional authority. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court disagreed and found that the Governor did have authority for the Executive Order. In reaching its conclusion, the Court noted that the Governor had authority under the Pennsylvania Emergency Code to protect the public from natural disasters. Under the Emergency Code, the term “natural disaster” is defined to include catastrophes that result in “substantial damage to property, hardship, suffering or possible loss of life.” The Court held that the COVID-19 pandemic qualified as a “natural disaster” and fell within the same general class of disasters as the specifically enumerated “natural disasters” because they all involve “substantial damage to property, hardship, suffering or possible loss of life.”
The Friends of Devito Court went on to note that the Petitioners’ arguments ignored the nature of the virus including the way in which it is transmitted. Because the virus is transmitted by person-to-person contact, has an incubation period of up to fourteen days, can live on surfaces for several days, and carriers can be asymptomatic, the Court concluded that “any location (including Petitioners’ businesses) where two or more people can congregate is within the disaster area.” Thus, the Court rejected the argument that there had “been no disasters in the areas in which [the Petitioners’ businesses] are located.”
Based on Friends of Devito, attorneys are now raising the argument all properties are damaged just by the manner in which COVID-19 spreads. In other words, they are asserting that coverage would exist even in the absence of the actual presence of the disease at a specific location. In the same vein, policy-holder counsel are now arguing that property damage is not a necessary prerequisite to Business Interruption coverage where the policies provide coverage for Business Interruption caused by “direct physical loss of or damage to property.” They argue that businesses that were forced to close due to stay-at-home orders have suffered loss of property, regardless of whether there is actual contamination or other property damage at the business location, because the property is not available for their business use.
On the surface, both arguments are concerning for insurers faced with COVID-19 related Business Interruption claims. However, both arguments appear to conflate “loss of use of property” with “physical loss of” property. As such, they ignore the term “physical.” These types of arguments have already been rejected by several courts. These courts have held that the “physical loss” is not the same as “loss” in general because actual physical change to the condition of the insured property is required to qualify as “physical loss.” See, e.g., Ward Gen. Ins. Servs., Inc. v. Emp’rs Fire Ins. Co., 114 Cal. App. 4th 548, 556-57, 7 Cal. Rptr. 3d 844, 850-51 (2003); MRI Healthcare Ctr. of Glendale, Inc. v. State Farm Gen. Ins. Co., 187 Cal. App. 4th 766, 778-80, 115 Cal. Rptr. 3d 27, 37-38 (2010); Se. Mental Health Ctr., Inc. v. Pac. Ins. Co., 439 F. Supp. 2d 831, 837 (W.D. Tenn. 2006); and Phx. Ins. Co. v. Infogroup, Inc., 147 F. Supp. 3d 815, 825 (S.D. Iowa 2015).
While unpublished, a 2006 Washington State Court of Appeals case is instructive on the flaw in the newest COVID-19 arguments. In Washington Mutual Bank v. Commonwealth Ins. Co., the bank argued that “direct physical loss of” and “damage to” property have two separate meanings and were separated by the word “or”, such that the trial court erred in requiring actual physical damage to trigger coverage. The bank further argued that the term “loss” was broader than the term “physical damage.” The Washington State Court of Appeals rejected that argument and stated:
The language of this clause specifies that the loss must be “direct physical loss.” The clause does not use the word “loss” in the abstract. … When NWPT recommended evacuation, there was no actual physical loss to the property and no actual damage to the property. SeeWolstein v. Yorkshire Ins. Co., 97 Wn. App. 201, 211-12, 985 P.2d 400 (1999) (noting that language in a similar “all risks” policy required the insured property to sustain actual damage or physical loss to invoke coverage).
Wash. Mut. Bank v. Commonwealth Ins. Co., No. 56396-3-I, 2006 Wash. App. LEXIS 1316, at *7-8 (Ct. App. June 26, 2006).
While the actual COVID-19 coverage arguments have largely yet to be formally briefed, it seems likely that courts across the country will continue to apply the well-settled rules of interpretation for insurance policies and apply meaning to each word used in a policy instead of rendering certain language superfluous. We at Lether Law Group will continue to monitor the COVID-19 arguments and cases as they develop.
Lether Law Group is already actively defending insurers in multiple class action lawsuits filed by policyholders seeking Business Interruption coverage. We are open and available to assist in the defense of any individual or class action lawsuits that may be brought seeking this coverage.
If you would like any assistance in navigating the coverage issues involved in COVID-19 related claims, please feel free to contact us for a free discussion regarding your issues and how we can be of assistance.
Although not as liberal as the Washington courts, the Oregon courts have not necessarily been kind to liability insurers in coverage disputes arising out of construction defect claims. In a recent federal court ruling, however, the court has clearly held that construction defect claims resulting in breach of contract are not covered occurrences in Oregon. Moreover, the court held as a matter of law that claims for delay damage did not constitute property damage. The H.D.D. Company, Inc. v. Navigators Specialty Insurance Company, United States District Court for the District of Oregon, Case number 3:19-cv-00115-BR.
In the H.D.D. matter, H.D.D. was the subcontractor retained by SNC Lavalin Constructors to work on a natural transmission pipeline as part of the expansion of the underground natural gas reservoir. During the course of the project, a dispute arose as between H.D.D. and SNC. This dispute involved a retention of payments allegedly owed by SNC to H.D.D. and claims of alleged delay in completion of the subject work. As part of this dispute SNC demanded arbitration under the construction contract with H.D.D. H.D.D. then tendered the defense of the arbitration to Navigators who denied coverage on the basis that the claim did not involve an occurrence, that the claims did not involve property damage and that there were additional exclusionary exclusions which precluded coverage. H.D.D. subsequently sued Navigators. All parties to the action brought Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment for coverage issues.
The United States District Court for the District of Oregon denied H.D.D.’s Motion for Summary Judgment and found in favor of Navigators on its Motion. The court relied upon a long line of Oregon cases involving insurance coverage in the construction defect arena. The court concluded that Navigators had no duty to defend or indemnify H.D.D. H.D.D.’s primary arguments were that based upon the four corners of the Complaint there was a potential for coverage because the allegations could be read in such a way as to create a potential or plausible claim against H.D.D. Navigators argued that the claims set forth in the Complaint only asserted claims for breach of contract and delay which did not constitute an occurrence or property damage. The court agreed.
The court specifically held:
“A commercial general liability policy is not a warranty or performance bond for a contractor’s workmanship…. The risk being insured by such policies is the risk of tort liability for physical damages to others, and not contractual liability because the insured’s product is not at the quality for which the damaged person bargained…. When a Plaintiff alleges only breach of contract, there is not an “accident” within the meaning of the liability policy, and, therefore, there is not coverage under the policy.” (Internal citations omitted).
As a result, the court found that the alleged breach of contract in this case did not constitute an occurrence. In regard to the delay claims, the court also expressly held that such claims did not meet the definition of property damage. Despite the definition of property damage that includes loss of use language, the court still found that the loss of use has to arise from resulting covered property damage and not simply the insured’s defective work. The court expressly held that delay and increased construction costs that are the result of the defective component of the work performed by the insured does not constitute physical injury to, or loss of use of, tangible property.
The H.D.D. decision is a milestone decision in the Oregon courts in regard to both the issues of what constitutes an occurrence and what constitutes property damage under a liability policy.
Lether & Associates represented Navigators in the H.D.D.decision. We were pleased to be able to obtain this result and resolve this claim. If you would like to discuss this claim or other insurance disputes in the Northwest please feel free to contact our offices.
