In Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma v. Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Co., — F.4th –, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 37802 (Dec. 21, 2021), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit joined other circuits in holding that government closure orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic do not trigger insurance coverage for loss of business income. The court reasoned that the temporary inability to use property caused by COVID shutdown orders doesn’t involve a covered physical loss of property, and in any event, the policy’s virus exclusion applied.
The Closure Order and the Insurance Policy
In March 2020, Oklahoma’s Governor issued an executive order requiring businesses that were not considered part of the “critical infrastructure sector” to close to the public on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 emergency. Id. at *2. Local closure orders followed. Id. In response, Goodwill halted its operations and suffered resulting losses. Id.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
