In the case of APX Operating Co. LLC v. HDI Global Insurance Co., case number N21C-03-058, in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware, The Court rejected the lawsuit from a multi-state water park company that appealed from an order dismissing their COVID-19 coverage suit.
This case is among many wherein the state’s appellate courts have sided with the insurance company. The Delaware Supreme Court adopted the rationale of Judge Abigail M. LeGrow when she made her order to dismiss the suit by APX Operating Co. LLC, filed in November 2021. A three-judge panel issued a one-page ruling affirming the lower court’s decision, stating in pertinent part, that “The judgment of the Superior Court is affirmed,” Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz Jr. wrote on October 5, 2022.
In dismissing the Water Park’s claims, Judge LeGrow determined that an exclusion for “contamination” clearly invokes the exclusion of coverage clause. The Water Park company acquired the claims when it purchased the assets as part of a bankruptcy involving Apex Parks Group in 2020, after Apex filed for Chapter 11 protection having $100 million in debts. The bankruptcy was filed after the park suffered COVID-19-related park shutdowns in the States of California, Florida, and New Jersey, with APX ultimately filing a suit for what it called “acquired insurance rights.”
