Illinois Appellate Court Sides with Mound Cotton’s Client on “Contamination” Exclusion in COVID-19 Coverage Action
Mound Cotton’s client won an appeal in a COVID-19 coverage action involving a claim for “Tenants Prohibited Access” coverage. The appeal, pursued by Wolverine World Wide, Inc., involved an argument that various landlords had “physically obstructed” access to the insured’s locations inasmuch as they complied with COVID-19 shutdown orders. Although the policy affirmatively excluded contamination (a term defined in the policy to encompass “virus”), the insured argued that the shutdown orders should be considered a separate cause from that which falls within the exclusion. Both the lower and appellate courts disagreed, and sided instead with Mound Cotton’s arguments: “It defies credulity to see the closure orders and the virus as two different causes of the claimed losses * * * the Illinois closure orders were indisputably caused by the coronavirus. The novel coronavirus causing the COVID-19 pandemic led directly to the issuance of the government orders.” Slip Op. at 8 (quotation marks, brackets, and citations omitted). Accordingly, the appellate court affirmed, thereby upholding the lower court’s dismissal with prejudice.
The case is Wolverine World Wide, Inc. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., No. 1-23-0616 (Ill. Ct. App. July 25, 2024), and the slip opinion is available here.
Partners Wayne R. Glaubinger and Jared K. Markowitz represented Starr Surplus Lines Insurance Company.