Restaurant Not Entitled to COVID-19 Business Interruption Coverage, Calif. Federal Judge Rules

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge has dismissed a restaurant’s COVID-19 business interruption coverage action against Travelers Indemnity of Connecticut, ruling that coverage is not available because the eatery did not sustain “direct physical loss of or damage” as required by its policy.

In an Oct. 2 order, Judge Andre Birotte Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California explained that under state law, “losses from inability to use property do not amount to ‘direct physical loss of or damage to property’ within the ordinary and popular meaning of that phrase.”

The judge further ruled …