A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has declined to dismiss Metallica's suit seeking coverage for costs associated with the cancellation last year of six shows scheduled for South American venues.

A "communicable disease" exclusion in the heavy metal band's event cancellation policy with Lloyd's of London includes viruses, but the complaint sufficiently alleges that the pandemic was not the "efficient proximate cause" of the cancellations, Judge Holly J. Fujie said Oct. 1.

"The court held that the complaint sufficiently alleged that travel restrictions, the duty to mitigate damages, the need to flatten the curve, and stay-at-home orders may be the efficient proximate cause of Metallica's losses," the band's lead counsel, Jeffrey L. Schulman of Pasich LLP, said in a statement.

"The court also noted our argument that the virus/disease may not be the cause of the loss because it still exists and yet, travel and gathering restrictions have eased and concerts are again being performed," he said.

The operator of the Setai Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, failed to show that its property suffered physical loss or damage as required for coverage under a policy with National Surety Corp., a New York federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni of the Southern District of New York also said in her Oct. 1 opinion that the spread of COVID-19 was not a covered "communicable disease event" under a separate provision of the policy.

"Such an event would transpire if an outbreak of a disease required immediate evacuation of hotel guests or resulted in a public health order requiring disinfection or decontamination of the insured premises," the judge said. "Plaintiffs have not alleged that the Florida public health authorities required them to evacuate, decontaminate, or disinfect their facilities."

An Indiana appeals court has affirmed a lower court's decision to keep a training firm's COVID-19 coverage suit in Marion County, Indiana, rather than transferring it to Clark County.

Marion County is a "preferred venue" because some of Aegean LLC's canceled training seminars, for which it seeks coverage, were to take place at its Indianapolis location, the Indiana Court of Appeals said Oct. 5.

E&CP Inc., a Pennsylvania restaurant operator, has sued Utica First Insurance Co. for breach of contract and bad faith over its denial of coverage for losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. The suit also alleges negligence claims "in the alternative" against the plaintiff's broker, W.N. Tuscano Agency Inc., if a factfinder ultimately determines that the policy does not provide coverage.

St. Tammany Parish Hospital District No. 2, a Louisiana public hospital, has sued Zurich American Insurance Co. and XL Insurance America Inc. for breach of contract, seeking a declaratory judgment that its pandemic-related losses are covered.

Abbey Hotel Acquisition LLC et al. v. National Surety Corp., No. 21-cv-3506, (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 1, 2021).

E&CP Inc. v. Utica First Insurance Co. et al., No. 21-cv-1692, notice of removal filed (M.D. Pa. Oct. 1, 2021).

Frantic Inc. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's London, No. 21STCV21403, order issued (Cal. Super. Ct., L.A. Cnty. Oct. 1, 2021).

St. Tammany Parish Hospital Service District No. 2 v. Zurich American Insurance Co. et al., No. 2021-14180-I, petition filed, (La. Dist. Ct., St. Tammany Parish Oct. 1, 2021).

Taggart Insurance Center Inc. v. Aegean LLC et al., No. 21A-PL-1378, (Ind. Ct. App. Oct. 5, 2021).