News

Breaking News and Announcements

Breaking News and Announcements

breaking
featured
18 May 2022 / Case law
USA – Settlement on a students’ class action for reimbursement of tuition and other fees during pandemic
As discussed in previous posts (about Rutgers University, George Washington University and American University, and New York University) many coronavirus lawsuits have been filed throughout the United States to seek reimbursement for college tuition, room, board, meal plans, and fees. This strand also includes the class action filed by a student of the Lindenwood University on behalf of all people who paid tuition and fees for the Spring 2020 academic semester.
breaking
18 May 2022 / Case law
South Africa – Western Cape High Court dismisses appeal against new COVID-19 health regulations
In a judgment of 4 May 2022, the Western Cape High Court in South Africa, dismissed an appeal filed by an association for the protection of constitutional rights and freedoms against the Department of Health, seeking a declaration for the invalidity of the legislative procedure for the management of COVID-19, that replaces the emergency regulations.
breaking
18 May 2022 / Case law
Spain – Collective dismissal of almost 1,000 employees was justified, despite government’s prohibition to dismiss
On 20 April 2022, the Spanish Supreme Court (resolución n°358/2022) held that a company providing services of contact centers legally proceeded to the collective dismissal of almost 1,000 employees in June 2020, upholding a judgment of the High Court of Catalonia.
breaking
16 May 2022 / Case law
Taiwan – Taipei Court condemns Facebook user for spreading incorrect information on COVID-19
In a judgment of 9 May 2022, the Taipei High Court sentenced a Facebook user to three months in jail for violating the special law for the prevention, relief, and revitalization measures for severe pneumonia with new pathogens, for spreading false information on the epidemiological situation of COVID-19 in Taiwan in a Facebook group of which he was the administrator, as well as incorrect information on the prevention of the disease.
breaking
16 May 2022 / Case law
USA – Twitter not liable for removing content classified as misinformation regarding COVID-19
An independent journalist and harsh critic of the government’s pandemic response sued Twitter for having permanently suspended his account after he had repeatedly violated the social media’s COVID-19 misinformation guidelines by publishing statements on the COVID-19 vaccines that were considered misleading by the defendant company.
breaking
16 May 2022 / Case law
Slovenia – Government decrees imposing health passes not constitutional, court holds
On 14 April 2022, the Slovenian Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional two governmental decrees to counter the pandemic. The two decrees inter alia organized the checking of COVID-19 passes to access some public places.
13 May 2022 / Case law
Brazil – Unconstitutionality of decisions granting automatic linear discounts to students enrolled in 2020
The Civil Municipal Court of Brasilia ordered the Institute of Superior Education of Brasilia to return 9.33% of the monthly fees from March to December to all the students enrolled in 2020, by reason of the spread of the pandemic and the shift to remote teaching. The Office of the Public Prosecutor appealed the decision based on the alleged contractual imbalance and a failure to adequately consider the prejudice suffered by the Institute due to the COVID pandemic.
13 May 2022 / Case law
USA – Suspension of Biden administration’s decision to lift COVID-related immigration restrictions
On 20 March 2020, at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration invoked a World War II-era public health law – contained in Title 42 of the US code – to authorize US border officials to turn away migrants at the US southern border in order to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 in border facilities.
11 May 2022 / Case law
Australia – Nurse suspended and held criminally responsible for not self-isolating after testing for COVID-19
An Australian care nurse, despite feeling sick and awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test, decided to go to work at a Western Australian nursing home where she was employed. Based on the applicable laws and regulations, the nurse should have self-isolated and waited until the final result of the COVID test.
11 May 2022 / Case law
Spain – Dismissal of pharmacy assistant coming to work with COVID symptoms was justified
On 18 April 2022, Labor Court n°4 of Córdoba ruled that the dismissal of a pharmacy assistant who went to work with COVID-19 symptoms for ten days was justified.
11 May 2022 / Case law
USA – Should the derivative injury doctrine apply to “take-home” COVID-19 lawsuits?
A former employee of a construction company filed suits against his former employer claiming that the latter “knowingly transferred workers from an infected construction site to [the plaintiff’s] jobsite without following the safety procedures required by [a San Francisco] Health Order,” that he “was forced to work in close contact with these employees and soon developed COVID-19, which he brought back home” where he infected his high-risk wife, who became severely ill.
9 May 2022 / Case law
Brazil – Supreme Federal Tribunal suspends legislation lifting compulsory vaccination, enforcement of restrictions, and sanctions on unvaccinated people
By requesting preliminary measures, the Rede Sustentabilidade (a political party) challenged the validity of Law no. 13.691/2022 of the Municipality of Uberlandia, which lifted compulsory vaccination against COVID-19, as well as restrictions previously imposed on unvaccinated people. The plaintiff submitted that such law not only contrasts with established case law, but also violates the population’s constitutional rights to health and life.
9 May 2022 / Case law
India – Supreme Court requires State governments to review vaccine mandates
On 2 May 2022, the Indian Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of the country's vaccination policies. Although confirming that the Union’s vaccination policy was reasonable, the Court held that the vaccine mandates imposed by several States and Union Territories were disproportionate in the current context of both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals appearing to be susceptible to transmission of the virus at similar levels.
6 May 2022 / Case law
India – Supreme Court rejects petition for virtual hearings
The Supreme Court, in a judgment dated 29 April 2022, rejected the petition filed by the lawyers' organisation All India Association of Jurists and others against the Uttarakhand High Court's decision to return to court hearings in physical presence, without a hybrid option.
6 May 2022 / Case law
Germany – Deprivation of liberty for refusing to wear face mask during demonstration is legal
On 8 February 2022, the German Federal Court of Justice (Criminal Senate) confirmed a judgment of the lower court, finding that the City of Cologne had lawfully adopted an ordinance imposing the wearing of face masks in its old town, in places with high public traffic (in accordance with the Corona Protection Ordinance of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia of 30 November 2020). The Court found no violation of constitutional law.
4 May 2022 / Case law
New Zealand – The MIQFs system enacted for overseas New Zealanders’ returning to the country was unreasonable
In response to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, New Zealand enacted several measures, including restrictions upon overseas New Zealanders’ right to return to their country. Indeed, from 10 April 2020 until 28 February 20022, all arrivals – including New Zealand citizens – were required to enter government-managed isolation and quarantine facilities (MIQFs) for a prescribed period and to submit to medical testing.
4 May 2022 / Case law
USA – Maine agrees to repay incarcerated workers for seized unemployment benefits
In March 2020, inmates participating in the work release program were forced to stop working on account of the COVID-19 outbreak. The Maine Department of Labor found such incarcerated workers eligible for the special COVID-19 unemployment benefits and began making weekly payments into their prison accounts. Few weeks later, the State abruptly removed the workers’ unemployment benefits from their accounts.
4 May 2022 / Case law
United Kingdom – Discharging hospital patients to care homes was irrational, says High Court
On 27 April 2022, the High Court of England and Wales ruled against the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and executive agency Public Health England for the policies they had put in place at the beginning of the pandemic in care homes, especially fox discharging hospital patients to care homes without safeguarding the health of their vulnerable residents (case No: CO/2123/2020 - [2022] EWHC 967 (Admin)).
3 May 2022 / Case law
USA – A State Appellate Court dismisses bars’ lawsuit over COVID-19 restrictions
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Governor of Florida issued several executive orders which closed or severely restricted the operation of bars. A group of Central Florida bars brought action for having been adversely affected by such orders. More precisely, they alleged that the temporary closure and later restrictions of their businesses constituted governmental takings that amounted to inverse condemnation entitling them to compensation.
3 May 2022 / Case law
EU – COVID certificate to access European Parliament not unlawful, EU court rules
Before the EU’s General Court, some elected Members of the European Parliament and employees of the institution challenged the Parliament’s decision to impose the presentation of the EU Digital COVID Certificate* for anyone accessing its premises (in Brussels, Strasbourg, and Luxembourg), initially until 31 January 2022. However, the President of the General Court rejected their request for interim measures in November 2021.
29 April 2022 / Case law
Russia – Supreme Court annuls fine for failing to wear mask in Moscow underground
On 23 March 2022, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (case No. 5-АД21-93-К2), overturned a judgment issued by the Moscow court that sentenced the applicant to pay a fine for violating the emergency rules. In particular, the man was found guilty by the court of first instance for having violated the mayor of Moscow’s Order No. 12-УМ of 5 March 2020 which set the maximum alert regime for the containment of the pandemic, for not wearing a mask on the Moscow metro.
27 April 2022 / Case law
India – Court condemns state hospital to pay compensation for death from COVID-19 for negligence
On 23 March 2022, the High Court of Orissa at Cuttack, in a case against the Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Health and Family Welfare Department as well as against the Odisha Government, condemned the main medical health facility of the state.
27 April 2022 / Case law
USA - Severity of confinement may justify compassionate release from prison
On 8 April 2022, the District Court for the Southern District of New York granted in part a motion for compassionate release filed by a federal prisoner who had alleged that his medical conditions placed him "at high risk of COVID-19's worst consequences" and that, on account of the pandemic, he had suffered through truly egregious conditions of confinement that have made service of his existing sentence more onerous and more punitive than the Court originally contemplated.
25 April 2022 / Case law
USA – District Court did not have jurisdiction to enjoin the federal-worker mandate
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden Administration put out four mandates requiring vaccination in various contexts. On 21 January 2022 the District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued a preliminary injunction enjoining one of such mandates, i.e., the one imposed on all federal workers.
25 April 2022 / Case law
India – Supreme Court guarantees the protection of orphans from COVID-19
On 4 April 2022, the Supreme Court ordered the district courts and government childcare authorities to complete the process of preparing Social Investigation Reports to ensure that property and the assets of children orphaned by the pandemic are protected
25 April 2022 / Case law
Mexico – Parents fail to obtain vaccine prioritization for their child to attend school
By indirect amparo, a claimant sought the suspension of the Mexican National Vaccination Policy against COVID-19 on the grounds that, based on the established schedule, their son would not have received the vaccine before the start of 2021-2022 classes. After a district judge dismissed the action, the claimant appealed the decision.
22 April 2022 / Case law
USA – Federal judge vacates Biden Administration’s mask mandate in transportation
On 3 February 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a regulation requiring wearing a mask in airports, train stations, and other transportation hubs as well as on airplanes, buses, trains, and most other public conveyances in the United States. The Biden Administration extended the mandate until 3 May 2022.
20 April 2022
USA – The Supreme Court of New York declares toddler mask mandate void and unenforceable
By a one-page interim order of 1 March 2022, a judge of the Supreme Court of New York stated that the mandate was “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable” and declared the mandate void and unenforceable.
20 April 2022 / Case law
Brazil - Court annuls local decree lifting the mandatory use of face masks for children under the age of 12
An association challenged the legality of Rio Grande do Sul Decree no. 56.503/2022, which lifted the mandatory use of face masks for children under the age of 12. The claimant had argued that the State decree was contrary to Federal Law no. 13979/2020 which mandated the use of face masks with the exception of the categories expressly provided therein (persons affected by a range of disabilities). In the first instance, the Decree was provisionally suspended.
20 April 2022 / Case law
Taiwan – Patient escaping from solitary confinement sentenced to 50 days in jail by Changua District Court
On 25 March 2022, the Changhua District Court sentenced an individual to 50 days in prison (suspended for two years) and to a fine of NT$ 20,000 (US$ 698), for having violated a solitary confinement order during hospitalization for contracting COVID-19, at a hospital in Changhua.
20 April 2022 / Case law
Mexico – National Institute for Transparency orders disclosure of COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials to a claimant
An individual requested the person requested the Federal Commission for the Protection of Health Risks (Cofepris) to provide the document in which the biopharmaceutical company which produced the vaccine stated that a second shot is required after 6 months from the first shot.
13 April 2022 / Case law
Germany – Welfare recipients not entitled to benefits for medical masks
On 20 February 2022, the Social Court of North Rhine-Westphalia (AZ: L 19 AS 1236/21) rejected the claim of a ‘Hartz IV’ welfare recipient demanding 20 FFP2 masks per week or a monthly payment of 129 euros to their employer.
13 April 2022 / Case law
India – Supreme Court requests readmission to civil service exams
On 31 March 2022, the Supreme Court accepted the appeal of three candidates to obtain a new exam test and the modification of the age limits for participation in the exam for access to public services of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
13 April 2022 / Case law
Tunisia – Suspension from work for lack of vaccination pass illegal, court holds
On 23 March 2022, the Administrative Court of First Instance of Monastir accepted the urgent appeal of employees against the administrative provision of the Governor of the Education of Al Mahdya which required the suspension from work because they did not have a COVID-19 vaccination pass (see joint cases n.6200461 n.6200464 and n.6200465).
12 April 2022 / Case law
Brazil – The Court of São Paulo ordered a food assistance program to resume despite COVID-19
The Attorney General and the Prosecutor’s Office of the State of São Paulo filed a public civil action requesting the restoration of the Bom Prato program, which offers free meals people without a house. The plaintiffs alleged that the service was interrupted on 30 September 2020 due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and that, by injunction of 22 October 2020, another judge had already ordered that the service be resumed.
12 April 2022 / Case law
Hong Kong - High Court rejects appeal against vaccination pass
On 30 March 2022, the Court of First Instance of Hong Kong rejected the appeal of a claimant opposed to the vaccination program, which was introduced in February 2022 for access to a series of premises including courts, restaurants, supermarkets.

This project and its database have been made possible with the financial support from the World Health Organization

www.covid19litigation.org is run and maintained by the University of Trento

Via Calepina 14, I-38122 Trento (Italy) — P. Iva/C.F. IT-00340520220

Social Media Links