The district court for the District of New Jersey awarded summary judgment to an insurer in a suit concerning the application of business income coverage and number of locations involved. The case is Count Basie Theatre Inc. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95978 (D.N.J. 2024). Please note that this case is unpublished and therefore has limited precedential value. 

Count Basie's is a nonprofit arts organization based in New Jersey. The organization had a commercial property policy with Zurich that covered three premises: a theatre, a music conservatory, and two surface parking lots. The policy also included a "Historic Properties Additional Coverages" section that provided coverage for "Communicable Disease Business Income." This additional coverage would apply to Count Basie's business income in the event that the three premises were required to shut down due to "an order of an authorized public health official or governmental authority…"

In March 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy issued an executive order mandating the closure of "entertainment centers, including but not limited to, movie theaters, performing arts centers, other concert venues, and nightclubs" in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Governor Murphy issued an additional executive order each month thereafter, continuing the closure of entertainment venues, until June 2021, which lifted the initial declaration of a public health emergency.