Maryland College’s COVID-19 Coverage Action Remanded for Lack of Diversity

BALTIMORE — A federal judge has remanded a Maryland college’s COVID-19 business interruption action, ruling that it has pled viable claims against its in-state insurance agent, destroying diversity.

In a May 26 order, Judge Richard D. Bennett of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland explained that under state law, the claims against the agent and the insurers can be litigated in the same lawsuit.

McDaniel College, a private college in Westminster, Md., was forced to temporarily close its campus beginning in March 2020 due to government stay-at-home orders issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The college …