"What we are facing now is unprecedented." Coronavirus lawsuits are about to flood the courts

And that is just the beginning.

Major catastrophes and recessions can unleash a torrent of demands, and the coronavirus pandemic is no exception. At least 917 federal and state lawsuits have been filed in relation to the pandemic, according to a database led by Hunton Andrews Kurth, an international law firm.

That account is just beginning, says Torsten Kracht, a partner who runs the project. “I can easily anticipate that litigation directly related to COVID-19 will continue to be filed for the next two, three years at least. It will be litigated for the next decade, probably. "

Disasters and crises often provoke litigation, but the pandemic is different

The September 11 attacks sparked cases on issues like health coverage for first responders at Ground Zero and the property developer's insurance policies. A victim compensation fund He paid more than $ 7 billion to survivors and families who agreed not to sue the airlines.

The Great Recession sparked lawsuits against major financial institutions that allegedly misled investors and regulators. It also triggered a wave of bankruptcies and foreclosures.

But the COVID-19 pandemic is different for the breadth and scale of legal problems, observers say.

The virus has killed more Americans than the Vietnam War, leading to a series of public health problems over the workplace and the reopening of economies. It has caused more than 30 million people to apply for unemployment benefits and triggered a $ 2.2 billion stimulus bill to help faltering businesses and households.

Also, the pandemic is a global event, so the reach goes far beyond just one place.

In labor law alone, "what we are facing now is unprecedented in scale, complexity, and how much depends on science," said Joseph Sellers, a partner at the Cohen Milstein law firm that represents plaintiffs in civil rights and labor class actions.

Legal liability is becoming a major problem. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says businesses need protection from "the biggest litigation bonanza in history." The director of the National Economic Council of the White House, Larry Kudlow, also thinks that he is It is a good idea to limit the legal exposure of companies. Companies are making an "opportunistic attempt" to try to weaken the laws that protect workers and consumers,

say some consumer advocates.

Here is a breakdown of the cases that are already piling up in court:

Nurses are suing for lack of personal protective equipment

Nurses are some of the "front-line" workers, so it's not surprising that their cases are at the forefront of the legal battle, especially in New York, the US epicenter of the outbreak.

For example, the New York State Nurses Association, a union with 42,000 members, allegedly a hospital, Montefiore Medical Center, was not providing him with enough protective equipment, a charge the hospital denies. The union has two other pending cases alleging that the nurses are not obtaining the protective equipment they need.

Meanwhile, a nurse is anonymously suing Good Samaritan Hospital in a county north of the city. She alleges that she hired COVID-19, but her bosses refused to obtain or reassign her necessary equipment. The nurse said she had no choice but to resign and is pressing for at least $ 1 million in damages.

The nurse's lawyer declined an interview and the hospital did not respond to a request for comment.

Retail workers sue their employers for job security

Job security is also a problem in the retail industry. The status of a Walmart
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A worker who died from COVID-19 said the company did not protect workers. The dead man, Wando Evans, 51, was healthy before falling ill, his lawyers said.

Walmart officials were "heartbroken" by the incident, the company said in a statement. "While it may be impossible to determine where or how someone contracts the virus, we have taken steps across the country to protect our associates and customers." The company says security is a serious matter and will "respond accordingly with the court."

Employees who work from home could sue for working too many hours

Other labor lawsuits focus on other labor issues, not just safety. When a Pennsylvania school closed, a single mother alleges that she tried to find a work-from-home deal and leave, and, according to her, she was fired from her $ 125,000 job when she applied for time off. She is now suing under the Families First Coronavirus Response Law. Congress passed the law in March requiring employers to offer paid child care leave As the outbreak worsened.

Workplace safety rules and licensing questions are just some of the possible critical points. Homeworkers could sue for not receiving compensation for the supplies they buy for their home office, or being asked to work too many hours, said Adam Karr, a partner at O'Melveny & Myers, where he defends companies against the working class. action lawsuits.

“Each action will be based on its own facts. What I can say is that many employers are doing everything they can do for their employees in these particular circumstances. … This is as unprecedented as anything could be. «

When many companies reopen offices or restart services, they will have to decide whether they can return to the staff they previously had, or return with a lower count. If those revised staff decisions exclude groups of workers who are older or have the same race or gender, that could open up a legal fight.

"Anything that can have a broad and broad impact on a particular group of people increases my interest," said Shaylyn Cochran, a Cohen Milstein partner representing workers.

Cochran has yet to file a case related to the outbreak. She said she is careful and says that the employees are too. "These days, when people are not sure, I don't think people are waking up and thinking," Let me see how I can sue my employer? «

Travelers are taking airlines to court over refunds for canceled flights

Government shutdown orders in March and April disrupted travel plans, banned long-planned events, and closed in-person classes at colleges and universities across the country. Now, dissatisfied customers want to get their money back, and some are suing to get it.

Some travelers who booked tickets with United Airlines
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Delta Airlines
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and Southwest Airlines
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They filed class action cases alleging that they were unable to obtain cash refunds and were offered vouchers and credits instead, even when the carrier's terms of service required a refund under the circumstances.

A United spokeswoman told MarketWatch that the company was unable to comment on a pending case, but noted that United is allowing customers to change their travel plans without a fee. Eligible customers on domestic and international flights may request a refund "if their flights have been severely adjusted or service to their destination suspended due to government mandates or United schedule reductions related to COVID-19," the company said.

A Delta spokesperson said the airline will give "full refunds to eligible passengers" and has processed more than two million refunds since March, totaling more than $ 1 billion. The clients who filed the class action lawsuit have been reimbursed, a spokesperson said.

See also: Half of all Americans are canceling their summer vacations: what to expect on rebates from cruise lines, hotels, and airlines

A Southwest spokesperson said the company "will defend our policies accordingly as our focus is always on taking care of our customers, especially during these unprecedented times." Refunds are an option for customers, he said.

Sports and music fans are suing ticket sellers

In one case, a Wisconsin man used StubHub to buy tickets to a hockey game. Between the man's $ 120 purchase and his scheduled game, the NHL, like all major sports leagues, suspended its season. The class action lawsuit alleges that the man cannot get his money back because StubHub wrongly changed the terms of its refund policy.

A company spokesperson declined to comment on pending litigation. The default option for a canceled event is a StubHub coupon at 120% of the purchase price. Refunds are "available in jurisdictions that require it," he said.

Meanwhile, another lawsuit claims that New York Sports Club members are running out of money while their gyms are temporarily closed. Town Sports International
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-3.61%,
who owns the fitness chain, has denied the allegations in court documents.

Consumer cases can trigger fine print in a company's terms of service, said Jeff Sovern, who teaches consumer protection laws at St. John's University School of Law.

Some companies may have put language in their contract to protect against refunds during a pandemic, and customers, who rarely read the terms and conditions anyway, may not have noticed, he said.

Even without a contract, Sovern said companies could also invoke a legal argument saying that it was impossible to fulfill their contractual obligations under the circumstances.

Student says she is getting "expensive chewing gum and duct tape substitutes"

In mid-March, college campuses completed classes in person and engaged in online learning. Although many offered pro-rated reimbursements on room and board, the new lawsuits also focus on recovering tuition payments.

Cases are popping up everywhere. For example, a student at Brown University sued his school late last month, and a student at the University of Southern California did the same on Tuesday.

In Brown's case, the student, with a laboratory course in his studies, said he is paying for a "comprehensive academic experience" and getting "something much less: a limited online experience presented by Google
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+ 1.15%

o Zoom
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, void of face-to-face faculty and peer interaction «.

In the USC case, the student alleges that she and students like her are paying for "expensive chewing gum and duct tape substitutes" for in-person education.

"We are disappointed by the lawsuit, but we believe the evidence will show that USC took extraordinary steps to ensure the continuity of the educational experience for its students," the university said in a statement.

“During this time of global crisis, no aspect of our daily life is what anyone expected. However, what has not changed is the core value of a Brown education, ”said a university spokesman.

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In all consumer cases, companies face a court of law, but also a court of popular opinion, Sovern said.

“A company that denies a refund could lose a customer for the rest of the customer's life. Not to mention the family, the customer's friends and, these days, on social media, perhaps many other people too. "

A similar dynamic could be at play for schools, he added. "Universities, for example, want graduates to contribute, and therefore may want to give a refund on the theory that denying the refund would be penny and nonsense."

Insurance policies for business closings are being tested

When companies start, a common purchase is a business interruption insurance policy. With so many companies temporarily closed under state shutdown orders, the writing of those policies is being tested.

The policies are written to cover "direct physical loss or damage," said Jared Greisman, a partner representing insurance companies at Goldberg Segalla. The policy would go into effect, for example, if there were a fire or an explosion of water pipes stopping operations.

Following the coronavirus outbreak, companies are filing claims "in a volume that has never been seen before," he said. “Generally, you have the absence of loss or direct physical damage. Because the virus is a temporary or ephemeral event, carriers deny it, "said Greisman.

You are aware of at least 100 lawsuits that challenge coverage decisions.

After the SARS outbreak nearly 20 years ago, insurance companies began to exclude the consequences and losses from viruses, Greisman said. “Coverage without that exclusion is not common, and is something that is purchased specifically as a different type of product. It is not common for a company to ensure this type of coverage, "he said.

The CARES Law has generated lawsuits against banks

The stimulus bill set aside $ 349 billion in potentially forgivable small business loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Lawmakers invested another $ 320 billion in PPP when the initial amount ran out.

The show has its critics, who question how money is divided and who receives it. The funds come from the federal government, but companies apply through banks.

In several different lawsuits, small businesses allege that Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo unfairly applied their own internal rules and put favored customers at the forefront of the line for money meant to be the first to arrive.

The case against Bank of America
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He complained that the bank added different rules for applicants related to their loan relationships with the bank and other financial institutions. In addition to establishing basic criteria, the loan program never prohibited lenders from setting their own internal priorities, the bank's attorneys said in court documents.

The decision to "prioritize loans to clients who do not have credit relationships with other banks is simply an effort to direct their resources quickly and efficiently," argued Bank of America attorneys.

Do not miss:Opinion: how I finally got a small business PPP loan without losing my mind

A chase
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The spokeswoman declined to comment on the case, but said "Chase served customers when they approached us, and no business or customer segment was prioritized over another." He noted that more than 60% of loans guaranteed through Chase went to applicants with fewer than 25 workers.

Wells Fargo
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He did not respond to a request for comment.

A wave of bankruptcy cases is expected

Experts hope that the pandemic will generate a wave of bankruptcy cases for consumers and companies with liquidity problems that are on their debts.

The expected increase has not yet occurred; in fact, the number of new cases decreased in April, compared to the previous month. But that is likely because many businesses and households are still figuring out what their finances will be like, observers say.

J. Crew filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to restructure his debt; other major retailers could do the same before the end of the year. Exclusive Nieman Marcus has filed his own Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition.

Businesses and church pastors are suing states for social distancing rules.

Statewide closings in nonessential businesses are part of the response to a public health emergency, but carry serious economic costs. More than 20% of small businesses say they are two months away from closing permanently, according to a survey by US Chamber of Commerce USA

In Pennsylvania, a company that makes music bells is challenging the way state officials are managing its rules on companies that can remain open.

A separate group of Keystone State companies, including a golf course, laundry, and lumber company, took their fight to the US Supreme Court. USA

The court on Wednesday denied the offer to pause Pennsylvania rules.

In California, pastors are suing the state. They say the stay-at-home rules prevent in-person religious services and violate First Amendment rights to assembly and the free exercise of religion. They unsuccessfully pressed a temporary restraining order to stop the rules. California Central District Judge Jesus Bernal refused to impose the order last month and the decision is on appeal.