Wash. Federal COVID-19 Coverage Action Stayed Pending State High Court Ruling

TACOMA, Wash. — A Washington federal judge has stayed a hotel owner’s COVID-19 coverage action against Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. pending the state high court’s interpretation of “direct physical loss” and causation.

In a Jan. 31 order, Judge Benjamin H. Settle of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington noted that no Washington court has yet considered the issue and that without such guidance, the District Court would be left to predict how those courts would rule.

In March 2020, H Lodge LLC suspended operations in its Vancouver, Wash., hotel and restaurant after Governor Jay Inslee …