Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Affirms Dismissal of Putative Class Action
In an opinion handed down on February 3, 2022 (24 F.4th 1212), the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of a class action complaint filed against a major casualty insurance company represented by Dowd Bennett. The plaintiff, a business covered by a commercial insurance policy issued by the defendant carrier, claimed its in-store sales revenue fell as a result of a COVID-19 stay-at-home order, and therefore it had overpaid its insurance premiums in light of its alleged “lower exposure rate.” The plaintiff sought to represent a class of insureds with commercial liability insurance policies who were also subject to a stay-at-home order. The District Court in the Western District of Missouri dismissed the case, finding that the plaintiff had failed to exhaust its administrative remedies. The plaintiff appealed, but the Eighth Circuit unanimously affirmed the District Court. Dowd Bennett attorneys Jim Bennett and Michael Kuhn participated in the case.