Bolthouse Farm’s COVID-19 Coverage Action Stayed Pending Calif. High Court Ruling

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal judge has stayed WM. Bolthouse Farm’s COVID-19 coverage action against its insurers pending the California Supreme Court’s ruling on a certified question of whether the actual or potential presence of the virus constitutes “direct physical loss or damage to property.”

In a Jan. 11 order, Judge Jennifer Thurston of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California noted that courts of appeal in the state are split on the issue.

In United Talent Agency v. Vigilant Insurance Co., the 2nd District California Court of Appeal, Division 4, held that the presence of COVID-19 …