Federal Judge Dismisses San Francisco Café’s COVID-19 Coverage Action for 2nd Time

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal magistrate judge has dismissed for the second time a San Francisco café’s COVID-19 business interruption coverage action, ruling that neither the presence of the COVID-19 virus nor related government closure orders caused “direct physical loss” to the insured property.

On March 25, Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California concluded that plaintiffs Steven Baker and Melania Kang d/b/a Chloe’s Café failed to allege in its amended complaint that the government closure orders were directed at property damage that resulted from the COVID-19 virus.

“There are no allegations …