Case docket
In re Society Insurance Co. COVID-19 Business Interruption Protection Insurance Litigation — N.D. Ill.
In re Society Insurance Co. COVID-19 Business Interruption Protection Insurance Litigation — 22 court filings in the archive from U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, filed between October 2, 2020 and August 27, 2021.
Shares documents with: In re: Society Insurance Company COVID-19 Business Interruption Protection Insurance Litigation — 7 public filings; 1 document appears on both pages.
Case facts
| Court | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois |
|---|---|
| Filings | 22 public filings |
| Filed | 2020-09-17 – 2025-07-30 |
| Original PDFs | 22 of 22 |
Case summary
This multidistrict litigation addresses Society Insurance's denials of business-income interruption coverage for restaurants and other hospitality businesses whose operations were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred the actions listed on its Schedule A to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on October 2, 2020, where they proceed as MDL No. 2964, Master Docket No. 20 C 5965, before Judge Edmond E. Chang and Magistrate Judge Jeffrey I. Cummings. Case Management Order No. 1, entered October 12, 2020, consolidated the assigned civil actions for pretrial purposes. The master consolidated amended complaints of April 2 and August 27, 2021 plead breach of contract and declaratory judgment on business income and extra expense coverage and bad faith denial of coverage for an Illinois class. On July 30, 2025 the court granted Society's motion to dismiss the cases.
Case at a glance
| Parties | Plaintiff classes of policyholders, including the bellwether plaintiffs Big Onion Tavern Group, LLC, Valley Lodge Corp. and Rising Dough, Inc. doing business as Madison Sourdough; defendant Society Insurance |
|---|---|
| Court and docket | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, MDL No. 2964, Master Docket No. 20 C 5965, Judge Edmond E. Chang and Magistrate Judge Jeffrey I. Cummings |
| Program | Not named in the filings on this page. The claims are on business interruption insurance policies, not on a pandemic relief program |
| Claims | Count I, breach of contract for business income coverage; count II, breach of contract for extra expense coverage; counts III and IV, declaratory judgment on each coverage; count V, bad faith denial of insurance coverage, asserted by an Illinois class |
| Disposition or status | Society's motion to dismiss the cases was granted on July 30, 2025 |
| Status checked | 2026-09-23 · against DOJ press releases through 2026-09-22; court docket not yet read |
What does the master complaint allege?
That the plaintiffs' Society policies cover their losses related to the closure orders and the necessary interruption of their businesses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, and that Society is liable for damages to be established at trial. These are the complaint's allegations.
What did the court decide?
It granted Society's motion to dismiss the cases on July 30, 2025, after decisions in other cases interpreting mostly identical business-income coverage provisions held almost uniformly that the key requirement for coverage, direct physical loss, requires some physical effect or alteration to the insured property and is not satisfied by the mere loss of the use of the premises.
How was the litigation structured?
Case Management Order No. 1 consolidated the civil actions assigned to MDL No. 2964 for pretrial purposes and applied to related and tag-along actions. The court then picked three bellwether cases, and Case Management Order No. 4 of January 11, 2021 set the two issues for oral argument on the bellwether motions, including whether "direct" in the policy's definition of direct physical loss implies a proximate-cause analysis.
Summary written from the documents on this page; every sentence is sourced.
Filings
22 public filings from this case, in filing-date order.
- Complaint (Exhibit 1) — Twenty Two Ten Ltd. et al. v. Society InsuranceComplaint · PDF
- JPML Transfer Order — In re Society Insurance COVID-19 MDLPDF
- Case Management Order No. 1 — In re Society Insurance COVID-19 MDL (N.D. Ill.)PDF
- Exhibit C — State Court Hearing Transcript (It's Nice, Inc. v. State Farm Fire and Casualty)Exhibit · PDF
- Plaintiffs' Memo in Opposition to Motion to Dismiss — The Whistler LLC et al. v. Society InsurancePDF
- Society's Rule 56.1 Response — Big Onion Tavern Group et al. v. Society InsurancePDF
- Society's Reply in Support of Motion to Dismiss — 351 Kingsbury Corner LLC v. Society InsurancePDF
- Society's Reply in Support of Motion to Dismiss — Big Onion Tavern Group et al. v. Society InsurancePDF
- Plaintiffs' Omnibus Response to Supplemental Authority — In re Society Insurance COVID-19 MDLPDF
- Exhibit A — Society's Opposition to JPML Transfer (JPML MDL Docket No. 2942)Exhibit · PDF
- Case Management Order No. 4 — In re Society Insurance COVID-19 MDL (N.D. Ill.)PDF
- Notice of Supplemental Authority — Colectivo Coffee Roasters v. Society Insurance (MDL 2964)Notice · PDF
- Bellwether Memorandum Opinion and Order — In re Society Insurance COVID-19 MDLPDF
- Master Consolidated Amended Complaint — In re Society Insurance…PDF
- Opinion Denying § 1292(b) Certification — In re Society Insurance COVID-19 MDLOpinion · PDF
- Opinion on MCAC and Civil Authority MTD — In re Society Insurance COVID-19 MDLOpinion · PDF
- Society's Opposition to Limited Fund Class Certification — In re Society Insurance COVID-19 MDLPDF
- Amicus Reply Brief — APCIA & NAMIC (Class Certification, In re Society Insurance COVID-19 MDL)PDF
- Class Plaintiffs' Reply in Support of Limited Fund Class Certification — Society Insurance COVID-19 MDLPDF
- Second Master Consolidated Amended Complaint — In re Society…PDF
- Society's Opposition to Enjoin State Court Proceedings — In re Society Insurance COVID-19 MDLPDF
- Final Opinion Granting Dismissal — In re Society Insurance COVID-19 MDLPDF
Court, dates and docket numbers are as recorded on the filings.