ViacomCBS Partially Covered for COVID-19-Related Losses, Calif. Federal Judge Rules

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge has ruled that ViacomCBS may recover from Great Divide Insurance Co. costs it incurred in implementing COVID-19 safety protocols for a Nickelodeon production under the policy’s “Due Diligence Clause.

However, in the Nov. 10 order, Judge Otis D. Wright II of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California further ruled that coverage under the policy’s Extra Expense provision is not available for sums the company spent in preparing to produce the 2020 Kids’ Choice Awards before it abandoned the production in the early days of the pandemic.

ViacomCBS is a …