Sudekum, Cassidy & Shulruff, Chtd. is at the forefront of addressing insurance issues resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Business Interruption Claims

The firm has analyzed dozens of claims made by businesses under property policies, which generally cover commercial buildings and other properties. These policies generally cover an insured’s loss of income caused by damage to the insured’s business premises.

Insurance companies are facing a flurry of business interruption claims by insureds whose businesses have been disrupted by shut-downs imposed by state and local authorities, federal restrictions on travel and supply chain interruptions.

The firm is advising insurers about business interruption claims made by owners of salons, restaurants, car restoration companies, food and beverage warehouses, cultural exchange planners, retail stores, equipment rental companies, offices, gas stations, manufacturing facilities and other businesses.

The pandemic has had disparate effect on various industries. In Illinois, for example, a salon is required to cease all activities, other than minimum basic operations, like processing payroll and those that can be performed remotely. However, because a salon cannot operate remotely – it requires person-to-person contact – these external factors are forcing operations to cease. By contrast, restaurants are prohibited from serving food on-site; they can, however, operate in a limited capacity through curbside pickup and delivery services. Some restaurants have chosen to shut down. A gas station is permitted to continue operating without meaningful restrictions but may experience a downturn in sales because its customers are driving less. Concert promoters, purveyors of sporting events and theater owners have also seen a drastic drop in revenue.

Accordingly, because of the different ways the virus is interfering with commerce, insurance companies need to carefully evaluate business interruption claims.

Covid-19 in the Workplace

Covid-19 has also disrupted the workplace. To protect employees whose lives have been upended by the pandemic, Congress has ushered in legislation. The new laws caused great confusion as to what employees must do to implement the new requirements.

Congress has recently passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (“EPSLA”) and the Emergency Family Medical Leave Expansion Act (“EFMLEA”). The different Acts provide different benefits to employees depending on the size of the company, the amount of time the employees have worked for their employer, the work environment and whether the jobholder is quarantined. Under certain circumstances, an employee may be covered by more than one of the provisions.

Because of the rush to pass legislation, many employers are grappling with how to deal with these new requirements.

Sudekum, Cassidy & Shulruff, Chtd. can offer its decades of expertise counseling insurance companies in how to respond to Covid-19-related claims and employment issues.

WHO ARE WE?

A client dropped off a five-foot stack of records 90 days before trial. We poured through the pile, examining each document until we found one sentence in a 50-page document that nullified a term which was at issue in the lawsuit. Despite the fact attorneys litigated the case for more than two years, no one else had uncovered this provision. We were able to defeat the claim through dogged effort and resourcefulness.

That’s who we are.