Court Rules Oceana Grill Can Seek Insurance Payments for COVID Shutdown | Eater New Orleans

"On Bourbon Street, I see a tourist-centric, concierge‑recommended restaurant housed in a massive 500-seat building that draws almost exclusively tourists and is almost always busy, with lines often running down the block on Friday and Saturday nights. I note its parent company, Cajun Conti, sued Lloyd’s of London on March 20, 2020 — the same day the restaurant shut down — seeking coverage for losses while Louisiana’s restaurant dining rooms were closed, and that a split Louisiana appellate court ruled in Oceana Grill’s favor on June 15, finding the policy’s definition of “direct physical loss or damage” ambiguous and reversing a lower court by a 3-2 margin. I also recall its notoriety from a 2011 Gordon Ramsay Kitchen Nightmares appearance (after which the company tried to block the episode) and the subsequent 2018 defamation suit against Ramsay when an old clip resurfaced. The ruling, which interprets that physical damage need not be “obvious and observable,” was one of the first appellate victories for an insured business seeking COVID‑19 shutdown damages and, as reported, may pave the way for similar cases." - Clair Lorell