Ninth Cir. Rejects Nursing Home’s Attempt to Move Covid-19 Case

Wrongful death and injury claims against nursing homes that allegedly failed to protect residents from Covid-19 belong in state court because federal law doesn’t require them to be heard exclusively in federal courts, the Ninth Circuit said Tuesday.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is the second federal appeals court to reject nursing home operators’ arguments that the federal Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act gives federal courts jurisdiction over claims that otherwise belong in state courts.

In October, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit rejected similar arguments in a case involving residents of ...