In Wisconsin, the Ho-Chunk Nation filed a lawsuit in Dane County Circuit Court against a group of insurers and underwriters led by Boston-based Lexington Insurance Company over denials of business interruption insurance claims related to Covid-19.
The lawsuit states the pandemic caused direct physical losses and damages to the tribe’s businesses which should have been covered by layering insurance policies, since the businesses were unusable and uninhabitable while closure orders were in effect.
According to the lawsuit, “The pandemic limited access, reduced usable space and required the installation of physical barriers. It also increased the need to clean and sanitize at the tribe’s properties. The policyholders undertook significant repair and remediation before use of the property could be permitted without risking further loss and injury to visiting patrons.”
In addition, the lawsuit states, “The pandemic limited access, reduced usable space and required the installation of physical barriers. It also increased the need to clean and sanitize at the tribe’s properties. The policyholders undertook significant repair and remediation before use of the property could be permitted without risking further loss and injury to visiting patrons.”
Insurance companies, however, have refused to cover pandemic-related losses. They claim business interruption policies only cover losses due to physical damage to businesses. Ho-Chunk officials responded, “This loss is physical because the probability of illness for any patron if the property were physically used made the property uninhabitable and/or unusable. The pandemic prohibited access to the property.”
The lawsuit doesn’t state how much the tribe is seeking in claims from its insurers. However, it does request a declaration that its losses are covered by its insurance policies and asks to be awarded unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
Last year, Ho-Chunk Nation President Marlon WhiteEagle said gaming revenue losses due to the pandemic had “pretty much crippled our tribal economy.” He said the tribe’s six Wisconsin casinos, which produce more than 80 percent of its annual operating budget, “are really the bread and butter of our funding.”
