Calif. Federal Judge Dismisses Restauranteur’s COVID-19 Coverage Action with Leave to Amend

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge has dismissed with leave to amend a COVID-19 coverage action filed by a restaurant company against Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance USA Inc., ruling that the “statistically certain” presence of the virus on the properties could cause “direct physical loss of or damage to property,” but that the alleged losses fall within the policy’s Virus Exclusion.

In the June 25 order, Judge John Kronstadt of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California further found The Madera Group LLC has not sufficiently alleged that government shutdown orders triggered coverage, noting that “most district courts …