(USA Herald) – Luxury Orange County mall South Coast Plaza has been granted the right to proceed with its lawsuit against an AIG unit, after a California federal judge ruled that a policy exclusion did not block its claims for over $5 million in
Legal news contributor for USA Herald, Samuel Lopez, reports that plaintiff C.J. Segerstrom and Sons had been forced to close the upscale shopping center in March 2020 as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19 and suffered losses of more than $5 million as a result. The company’s insurers, Lexington Insurance Co. and Starr Surplus Lines Insurance Co., declined to insure Segerstrom for its losses, prompting the lawsuit.
Lexington Insurance Co., a subsidiary of AIG, filed a motion to dismiss, citing a policy exclusion for loss or damage caused by “contaminants”, including a “virus”. However, U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong ruled that the “pollution and contamination” policy exclusion did not block South Coast Plaza’s claims.
