Thor Equities, LLC v. Factory Mutual Insurance Company

Background

Thor Equities, LLC sued Factory Mutual Insurance Company seeking damages and a declaration that Factory Mutual had to pay for losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic under Thor’s property insurance policy. The court previously denied the parties’ cross-motions for partial judgment on the pleadings. The motions addressed in this order were Thor’s partial motion for summary judgment, Factory Mutual’s motion for summary judgment, and separate motions by both parties to seal or redact exhibits.

Sealing Motions

Federal courts generally presume that the public may access documents relevant to judicial decision-making, especially documents used to decide summary-judgment motions. That presumption can be overcome when specific facts show that sealing is necessary to protect interests such as business secrecy or personal privacy, and the restriction is narrowly tailored.

The court found that Factory Mutual provided specific facts showing that its proposed redactions protected sensitive information about the pricing, underwriting, and reinsurance of its insurance policies, and that disclosure could harm its competitive position. The court also found that Thor’s sealed exhibits contained personal, confidential, and sensitive medical information. The court therefore granted Factory Mutual’s motion to seal and Thor’s motion to seal.

Summary Judgment

Summary judgment is a ruling without a trial when the law entitles one party to judgment based on the evidence. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Thor, the court held that Factory Mutual was entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

The court relied on Second Circuit precedent interpreting New York law. That precedent holds that the phrase “physical loss or damage” is unambiguous and requires actual physical loss of or damage to the insured property; it does not cover merely losing the use of property when the property has not been physically damaged. The court also noted that courts in the Second Circuit had unanimously concluded that the presence of the COVID-19 virus does not qualify as damage to the property itself because the virus has a short lifespan.

The order states in its summary-judgment discussion that Factory Mutual’s motion was GRANTED and Thor’s partial motion was DENIED as moot. In the conclusion, however, it states that Factory Mutual’s motion was GRANTED and Thor’s motion was DENIED. The court said that it would later issue a memorandum opinion addressing the summary-judgment motions and that the time to appeal would not begin until that memorandum opinion was issued.