Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP attorneys Clark Schirle and Jon Barger obtained a victory for their client in the case of Melcorp, Inc. v. West American Ins. Co., No. 21-2448 (7th Cir. June 8, 2022). The Seventh Circuit affirmed yet another trial court decision in favor of an insurer on a COVID-19 business interruption claim.
In Melcorp, the insured was a restaurant in a shopping mall food court in Illinois that alleged it had suffered a business interruption loss as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting governmental orders. In response to the governmental orders, the mall temporarily closed for a couple of weeks. Since the insured's restaurant was in the interior food court, the insured argued that the mall's closure meant that its food stall was "completely inaccessible to the public and effectively rendered it useless." The insured did not allege, however, that the virus was present in the mall or the food court, or that there was any physical alteration...
