The Connecticut Supreme Court has joined the ever-growing list of courts weighing in on COVID-19-related litigation. But it may be the first state high court in the country to determine that shutdown orders will not excuse restaurant owners from paying rent.

Massachusetts and Iowa were among the first state supreme courts to decide whether businesses can recover COVID-19-related business losses under their insurance policies. But the Connecticut Supreme Court tackled a different issue, holding that the governor’s executive orders did not give the green light for a restaurant to stop paying its bills in the case, AGW Sono Partners v. Downtown Soho.