Endeavor Operating Co., a media and entertainment producer, sued its commercial property insurer for coverage of losses it experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Endeavor argued that governmental restrictions on its ability to use venues, and property damage supposedly caused at unnamed venues by the virus that causes COVID-19, satisfied its insurance policy’s coverage requirement of “direct physical loss or damage” to property. The trial court sustained the insurer’s demurrer and dismissed the suit.
GMSR represented the insurer in Endeavor’s appeal to the California Court of Appeal. In addition to those same arguments, Endeavor contended that the policy’s unusual use of the word “event” entitled Endeavor to certain coverages with no showing of physical loss or damage at all.
In a published decision, the Court of Appeal rejected all of Endeavor’s arguments, and affirmed judgment for the insurer. The decision joined the majority of Court of Appeal decisions denying coverage on comparable allegations. It was the first in that line, however, to openly criticize two contrary decisions from another division (now on review in the California Supreme Court) for their core errors in applying California’s demurrer standards to the COVID-19 context.
To read the Court of Appeal Opinion, click HERE.
© 2025 Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland LLP.
All rights reserved. Disclaimer - Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
6420 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California 90048
p: (310) 859 7811 | f: (310) 276 5261
50 California Street, Suite 1500
San Francisco, CA 94111
p: (415) 315 1774
© 2025 Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland LLP.
All rights reserved. Disclaimer - Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
We welcome your inquiry. However, sending us an email does not create an attorney-client relationship. For that reason, you should not send us any kind of confidential information. Until we have agreed to represent you, we cannot be obligated to keep it confidential.