Legal Sea Foods has filed a lawsuit in federal court against their insurance provider, Strathmore Insurance CO., for denying their claim for damages and losses caused by the COVID-19 shutdown.
The restaurant chain negotiated a new policy with Strathmore that began on March 1, after concerns over COVID-19 had already been established. CEO Roger Berkowitz told Emily Rooney on WGBH New’s Greater Boston Thursday that coverage over a possible interruption in business was not “excluded” from their policy.
“In the restaurant business, as soon as something stops and it’s catastrophic, you got to get up and going again; and often it is business interruption insurance that is the bridge that allows you to do that. So, we have always been fanatical about having enough business interruption insurance,” Berkowitz said.
Legal Sea Foods had their claim denied twice before deciding to move forward with the lawsuit.
“It seemed to us that the insurance companies were kind of circling the wagons and saying, 'We’re not going to allow any of this go through,'” Berkowitz said. “We think they should honor the claim.”
Berkowitz said that the money from the claim would be used to help pay and provide for every aspect of the business.
“What is business interruption insurance meant for? It is for your employees, it is for you vendors, it is for your landlords, it is for everything,” he said.
