Ala. Optometrist Practice Sues Continental Casualty for COVID-19 Business Interruption Losses

MOBILE, Ala. — An Alabama optometrist’s office has filed a proposed class action against Continental Casualty Co., seeking coverage for business interruption losses it sustained after being forced to close for a month due to COVID-19 civil authority orders.

In a May 15 complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, Hillcrest Optical Inc. contends that it sustained direct physical loss of covered property, because its business was “rendered physically unusable for its intended purpose.”

Hillcrest further argues that the policy’s endorsement excluding loss or damage caused by the “presence, growth, proliferation, spread or …