Marriott Not Due Money from Avantax After Covid-19 Cancellation

Marriott Hotel Services Inc. is barred by an act-of-god clause from collecting more than $1 million from Avantax Inc. for conference-related reservations canceled by the financial services company due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a US appeals court said.

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit agreed Friday with a lower court’s decision that Avantax had “sufficient grounds” to invoke the force majeure clause in it’s contract with the hotel giant incancelling the 2021 conference at Marriott’s Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee, the court said.

The contractual clause provided that either party would be excused ...