BELLEVILLE — The owners of several restaurants in the Washington, DC area are suing their insurance carrier for allegedly denying claim due to business losses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Knightsbridge Management, Inc., T/A Knightsbridge Restaurant Group, Ardeo LLC T/A Sababa/Bindaas, Bombay Club Inc., Oval Room LLC, Rasika LLC, Bibiana LLC T/A Modena, Rasika West End LLC AB LLC T/A Olivia Bindaas 2000 Penn LLC T/A Bindaas and Annabelle LLC, filed a complaint on Oct. 26 in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against Zurich American Insurance Company, alleging breach of contract.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs are among Knightsbridge Restaurant Group's ten restaurants that operate in the Washington, DC area. The plaintiffs allege that each of their restaurants were subject to local public health orders that required them to close or "seriously curtail" their operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They allege the restaurants are insured under a "comprehensive coverage" policy from Zurich American Insurance that protects from business interruption losses.
The plaintiffs further allege that Zurich has denied their claim "based on an unreasonable reading of its policy" despite their having paid $83,390 in policy premiums to Zurich. They also claim that prior to the pandemic, their restaurants were "incredibly successful and widely recognized" but now have seen profits "plummeted or stopped completely" due to the pandemic.
The plaintiffs seek compensation+ and all other just relief. They are represented by Joseph Bartholomew of Cook, Bartholomew, Shevlin, Cook & Jones LLP in Belleville, Andrew Friedman, Victoria Nugent, Geoffrey Graber, Julie Selesnick, Karina Puttieva and Paul Stephan of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC in Washington, DC.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 20-L-0832