Lloyd’s London underwriters won’t be compelled to cover COVID-19-related business income loss sustained by restaurant companies doing business as Oceana Grill in New Orleans, following an Orleans Parish judge's ruling on Feb. 10.
Cajun Conti filed suit on March 16, 2020 in a petition for declaratory judgment against Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, et al, contending that the insurance policy the restaurant companies had with the underwriter “provides business income coverage in the event that the coronavirus has contaminated the insured premises,” the petition said.
“Plaintiffs and Lloyd’s entered into a contract of indemnity, whereby plaintiffs agreed to make cash payments to Lloyd’s in exchange for Lloyd’s promise to indemnify the plaintiffs for losses including, but not limited to, business income losses at 729, 735, 737, and 739 Conti Street, New Orleans, Louisiana,” plaintiffs claimed. “The insured premises are the location of Oceana Grill, a well-known New Orleans restaurant in the heart of the French Quarter.”
The trial was held from Dec. 14 through Dec.16 of last year, with parties afterward submitting post-trial memoranda.
Judge Paulette Irons denied the request for declaratory relief without providing written reasons, according to defense attorney Ginger Dodd, a partner with Phelps Dunbar LLP in Baton Rouge.
The lawsuit was considered “the first known business interruption suit filed in the United States arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dodd said.
“The Judgment in Cajun Conti is entirely consistent with the only other decision to date in Louisiana state or federal courts on these issues,” Dodd said. “In Nite Nite, LLC, et al. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, et al., Judge William Morvant granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment in open court on February 2, 2021….
"Several dispositive motions are pending in multiple other courts in both Louisiana state and federal courts. We believe both Cajun Conti and Nite Nite will be important cases for the other courts’ consideration.”