Publix’s Bid for Immediate Appeal Denied by Florida Judge in Opioid Lawsuit Coverage Dispute

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A federal judge in Florida has rejected Publix’s request for a judgment that would have allowed the grocery chain to immediately appeal a ruling stating that seven of its insurance policies do not provide coverage for opioid-related lawsuits.

U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell denied Publix’s unopposed request for a final judgment on her October partial summary judgment, citing that the request was broader than the scope of her initial ruling. In her decision, Judge Honeywell had granted partial summary judgment to insurers on the seven 2013 policies, but Publix sought a final judgment covering all 17 remaining defendants and every policy for the other 23 years involved in the lawsuit.

Judge’s Ruling on the Scope of the Case
Judge Honeywell clarified that Publix’s motion for partial summary judgment was limited to the 2013 policies, and thus, the issue of coverage for policies from other years had not been addressed in her October 29 order. She noted that Publix’s argument that the language in all policies is similar to the 2013 policies was insufficient to make a global determination about coverage across all the policies.