A number of students sued Southern Methodist University (“SMU”) for refusing to refund them tuition and fees paid for the Spring 2020 semester after it switched to remote instruction on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some theaters claimed nominal damages because they were required to process multiple refunds at every performance and were forced to hire additional staff to check the vaccination status.
On 17 May 2023, the Higher Court of Justice of the Basque Country held that a company's refusal to allow an employee to continue teleworking, after it had been temporarily implemented due to the exceptional situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, was unjustified.
Consumer Commission orders compensation after insurance company refuses customer’s claim concerning hospitalization due to COVID-19
The court held that the insurance was liable to pay the travel company for the losses it incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under former civil law rules, the inability to operate a business due to government measures against COVID-19 could qualify as “temporary impossibility” to fulfil the contract.
A number of disease epidemiologists and co-authors of The Great Barrington Declaration ("GBD") – a declaration that criticized lockdown policies and raised concern about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of lockdowns – filed suit against the Biden Administration alleging that, shortly after being published, the GBD was censored on social media by Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media on account of government officials’ communications with such platforms.
On 21 June 2023, the Spanish Supreme Court issued a judgment regarding the availability of protective equipment for healthcare professionals during the pandemic in Andalusia.
Several Italian ordinary courts are disapplying the Decrees of the President of the Council of Ministers (DPCM) providing specific rules to contrast the COVID-19 emergency. According to Italian Law ordinary judges unlike administrative judges can only disapply and not annul or void the administrative act.
Some employees alleged a “natural immunity” from COVID-19, refusing to vaccinate. The Court dismissed their claims.
The Data Protection Authority held that the complainant could file a complaint even though her vaccination status was not actually processed.
The preliminary questions referred to the court related to marketing authorizations of COVID-19 vaccines, healthcare workers with immunity, suspension without pay, and alternative deployments.
A national measure gave consumers the right to terminate contracts in case of impossible fulfillment because of measures adopted by public authorities
This is an appeal filed by Hapvida Assistência Médica Ltda, against the sentence handed down by the Judgment a quo which, in the records of the ordinary action brought by Viacao Sol De Abrantes Ltda, for the suspension of the health plan due to the breach of the contract during the pandemic.
The sanctioned individuals had refused to undergo mandatory COVID-19 vaccination
The petition challenged the discriminatory effects of the measures, which allegedly infringed on citizens' fundamental rights
On 21 June 2023, the Constitutional Court resolved a conflict of jurisdictions between a labor court and an administrative court in a case of non-contractual liability of public entities for damages caused to a physician due to COVID-19 infection.
The judgment concerns, among other issues, the scope of freedom of movement of workers within the EU
Among the Court's reasons, the incorporation into the employment relations framework of traditional values/tikanga, which required a higher standard in employment matters
The Court held that employers do not have a duty of care to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to household members
Manhattan College recently prevailed in one of the many COVID-19 tuition refund class action suits filed in the USA
The court found that the pandemic impact and financial constrains prevailed over Air India pilots' allowance
The ruling comes amid financial difficulties for the Andalusian village
The student loan forgiveness program issued by the Secreatry of Education had been challenged by six States
India's Karnataka High Court dismissed Twitter's plea challenging the federal government's orders to block tweets and accounts and imposed a fine of 5 million rupees
The decision to prohibit La Falange from demonstrating in May 2020 was proportionate and justified because it pursued the legitimate aim of protecting public health
By judgment of 8 June 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal filed by a patient suffering from terminal illness who had been removed from the high priority waiting list to receive a life-saving organ transplant on account of her refusal to get the COVID vaccine.
On 13 June 2023, the Tribunal of Santa Catarina (First Public Law Chamber) issued a judgment in an appeal filed by the Municipality of Urussanga against a decision in a labor lawsuit brought by the Union of Public Service Workers of Criciuma and Region – Siserp.
On 23 June 2023, the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court acquitted a member of a Malaysian nationalist party of charges related to the spread of fake news during the COVID-19 pandemic, concerning, in particular, the role of Indian nationals in Malaysia as a source of infection and vaccine-related deaths.
In June 2021, a man filed a medical malpractice suit against a hospital and several doctors. Since the facts complained of had occurred in 2014, the defendants argued that plaintiff’s complaint was barred by the applicable six-year statute of repose.
In a judgment of 22 June 2023, the Italian Administrative Court of Marche has rejected the plaintiff’s claim that he did not have an obligation to vaccinate and that the suspension from the job by the military administration was unlawful.
The Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of doctors seeking compensation for the lack of medical supplies during the pandemic. The highest court confirmed the rulings of the regional High Court of Valencia, which exempted the Valencian government from paying damages for moral and material harm.
The defendants, the Italian former Prime Minister and the Minister of health at time of pandemic, were accused of negligent epidemic for failure to create the red zone and to adopt organizational and restrictive measures aimed at contrasting the pandemic.
The main prosecution witness of a federal white-collar trial for bank fraud was allowed by the trial court to testify by remote video teleconference rather than in person on account of travel-related health concerns connected to the then ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
In March 2020, a company that operates ski resorts closed its facilities on account of the COVID-19 pandemic and did not reopen them until the start of the 2020/2021 ski season. That company failed to refund customers who had bought 2019/2020 passes. Indeed, when it had commercialized such passes, the company had expressly stated that they did not allow cancellations or refunds of any kind.
This project and its database have been made possible with the financial support from the World Health Organization
