Johnson & Wales University Sues Insurer Over Pandemic Losses

Johnson & Wales University is suing its insurer over financial losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic, alleging the company breached its contract because it did not allow the university to claim pandemic-related economic losses.

The university, whose main campus is based in Providence, Rhode Island, said that the American Guarantee & Liability Company’s current policy does not have preventative pandemic-related coverage in its insurance policy to cover economic losses, The Providence Journal reported Sunday.

As a result of the pandemic, the university said it lost enrollment, tuition, housing and dining revenues while expensing additional COVID-19 safety protocols.

In the lawsuit, Johnson & Wales asked the court to rule that the insurer must cover its financial losses “totaling many millions of dollars.”

A spokesperson for Zurich Insurance Group, American Guarantee’s parent company, did not respond to an email from the newspaper. The company has not yet responded to the lawsuit in court.