Oceana Grill, a popular restaurant in New Orleans, claims that the eatery should be issued coronavirus insurance coverage for business interruption.

The Oceana Grill is located in New Orleans’ French Quarter. The restaurant is reportedly open 365 days a year from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Although Oceana Grill often experiences high traffic, their regular business has allegedly been interrupted by the recent coronavirus outbreak.

Around the country, many states are ordering restaurants to close or limit their dining options – restricting restaurants to only drive-thru or takeout orders or reducing open hours. Louisiana has reportedly followed this trend.

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On March 13, Louisiana Governor John B. Edwards reportedly banned gatherings of 250 people or more in a single space. On March 15, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell restricted restaurants to close their doors at 9 p.m. every day and limit their seating capacity by 50 percent.

“It is unclear how the Governor’s order and Mayor’s restrictions interact and apply to Oceana, whose capacity at [50 percent] is 250 which is the limit on the Governor’s order,” Oceana Grill argues.

Even if the orders do not apply to restaurants, Ocean Grill claims that further restrictions will likely be released soon based on the trends in large cities such as New York City.

In light of these restrictions, the restaurant has reportedly looked towards their business interruption insurance provider for assistance with lost revenue. Although some experts agree that business interruption insurance will likely not cover coronavirus damages, Oceana Grill argues that their insurer, Lloyd’s of London, must cover any resulting damages.

According to the restaurant, Lloyd’s provides “all risk” coverage to Oceana Grill which includes the extension of coverage in the event of a civil authority-ordered business closure. Based on the terms of their policy, the restaurant claims that they should be covered for any losses during this global pandemic.

Although the insurance policy excludes losses due to biological materials (including pathogens) in the case of terrorism or malicious use, Oceana Grill argues that a virus or global pandemic does not disqualify the restaurant from receiving coronavirus insurance coverage.

The restaurant stresses the significance of COVID-19 and notes that the outbreak could have significant physical damage and losses. To support their argument, Oceana Grill points to countries such as China, Italy, France, and Spain which have turned to cleaning and fumigating public areas before allowing them to reopen. According to Oceana Grill, these and other situations would count as a direct physical loss under Lloyd’s business interruption coverage.

“While some rouge media outlets have called the 2019-2020 coronavirus an exaggerated mass hysteria that will unlikely create significant physical damage, the scientific community, and those personally affected by the virus, recognize the coronavirus as a cause of real physical loss and damage,” Oceana Grill claims in their coronavirus insurance coverage lawsuit.

Ocean Grill’s counsel agrees, saying that restaurants around the country may wrongly assume that they are not entitled to business interruption coverage.

Allegedly, insurance agents have irresponsibly contributed to this narrative to the detriment of restaurant owners.

“I can’t imagine how defense counsel are going to walk into court and say that coronavirus does not cause damage to property, or contaminate property,” plaintiff’s counsel told the Insurance Journal.

“I’ve talked to restaurant owners from here to New York City and they all are being told the exact same thing by their agents.”

Through the coronavirus insurance coverage lawsuit, Oceana Grill seeks declaratory judgement from the court. The restaurants asks the court to clarify if the recent Louisiana and New Orleans orders apply to restaurants with capacities over 250 people. Oceana Grill also asks the court to affirm that the Lloyd’s policy would cover physical losses resulting from the coronavirus.

This is not the first time that Oceana Grill has taken to court to settle disputes. Previously, the restaurant sued Gordon Ramsey’s show Kitchen Nightmares. The restaurant filmed with the company in 2011 but later sued to have the episode blocked from airing. The episode ran despite these attempts. However, after a clip from the show was posted on the Kitchen Nightmares Facebook page in 2018, the restaurant’s operator directly sued Ramsey for defamation.

Was your claim for coronavirus insurance coverage denied? Fill out the form on this page for a free case evaluation. 

Plaintiffs are represented by John W. Houghtaling II, Jennifer Perez, and Kevin Sloan of Gauthier Murphy & Houghtaling LLC and Daniel E. Davillier of Davillier Law Group LLC.

The Coronavirus Insurance Coverage Lawsuit is Cajun Conti LLC, et al. v. Lloyd’s London, et al., Case No. unknown, in the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, State of Louisiana.

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