John Houghtaling argues that coronavirus is a ‘physical threat’
In the Oceana Grill case, Houghtaling asserted that the coronavirus is a physical threat — a web of microscopic particles that comes to rest on surfaces, rendering the property unusable, Bloomberg said in its report.
Houghtaling and other advocates lobbied public officials in New York City, among others, to include phrases such as “physical loss” and “physical damage” in shutdown orders requiring businesses to close.
“If you ask them, ‘Is contamination physical?’ they start getting into arcane things like cat piss,” he told the newspaper. “Do you need to? Something that is small, that can go through the air and contaminate and get into your nose and get you very sick or kill your mother and father … it’s physical.”
Since March, Houghtaling has challenged three major companies in court and created a lobbying coalition called the Business Interruption Group, which is urging lawmakers in Congress to pass a bill requiring insurers to pay certain virus-related claims.
Meanwhile, the Oceana Grill case is scheduled to go to trial on Nov. 16 — set to become one of the first major tests of COVID insurance law.
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