Washington Tribal Casino Wins COVID-19 Insurance Claim Lawsuit
A George Washington tribal casino owned and operated past the Snoqualmie Native American Tribe tin can take in insurance money for indemnity and losses incurred by COVID-19. That’s according to Booker Taliaferro Washington Superior Court Judge Catherine Shaffer, who ruled inwards favor of the folk endure week.
A federally recognized Native American group, the Snoqualmie Tribe sought insurance compensation from their insurer — FM Global — for revenue losses sustained by the coronavirus pandemic.
FM Global and its Evergreen State subsidiary Affiliated FM argued that because in that location was no physical red ink or harm to the properties, the insurance coverage available to the tribal cassino was capped at $100,000. That was the amount that the casino’s insurance insurance policy covered for operating losses related to “communicable disease.”
The federation of tribes contended that its $150 meg boilersuit insurance extended to COVID-19 because of the policy’s stipulating that the good insurance coverage shields “all risks of physical red or damage.” Judge Shaffer in agreement(p) and directed FB Global to pass on with the tribe to find out a compensation enter far higher than the issued $100,000 reportage amount.
The Snoqualmie people opened their Snoqualmie Casino inwards Snoqualmie, Wa., in 2008.
Major Victory for Tribe
Commercial casinos were first of all ordered to shutter their holiday resort and gaming trading operations during the earliest stages of the pandemic inwards March of 2020. Since then, lawsuits against insurers refusing to pay off out on revenue losses hold filled courts. Tribal casinos, which aren’t required to bond to province orders, as they run on their supreme land below their have governments, voluntarily closed to assist inwards the pandemic response.
Tribes, ilk commercial-grade casinos, sought-after(a) insurance compensation. Courts have largely sided with the insurance companies. But in that location hold been a few victories for casinos, the a la mode(p) existence the Snoqualmie Casino.
The Snoqualmie Casino is the closest gaming venue with slot machines and tabularise games to Seattle. group A roughly 30-minute driving force from the city, the casino today houses 1,700 one-armed bandit machines and 54 tabulate games. The resort hotel features several restaurants, a sportsbook, an outdoor concert venue, and meeting facilities.
In her judgment, Shaffer concluded that Affiliated FM’s business interruption insurance insurance issued to the Snoqualmie Casino didn’t clearly explicate that such a pandemic would non follow covered.
Because the phrase ‘all risks of physical red ink or damage’ is stated in this disjunctive, the term ‘physical loss’ must miserly something other than ‘damage,'” she declared. “A reasonable rendering of the phrase is that the folk was disadvantaged of the power to physically usage or operate its properties because of the COVID-19-related closures.”
Shaffer has ordered the federation of tribes and insurance toter to negotiate a settlement. FM Global did non instantly respond to the courtroom outcome. But it could appealingness the ruling.
Tribe Donates Money
The Snoqualmie American Indian Tribe, a little Native American group with less than 1,000 members, was negatively wedged past COVID-19. But the virus hasn’t stopped-up(a) the folk from carrying on with its good-hearted endeavors.
Last month, the Snoqualmie Tribe distributed to a greater extent than $650,000 to legion(p) nonprofits throughout the res publica of Washington. Tribal officials said the direction of this year’s donations were veterans’ programs, arts and civilization organizations, Native services, home assistance, salmon habitat restoration and protection, and environmental educational activity inward the Snoqualmie Valley.