Burr was also in the hot seat after NPR reported that he had warned wealthy members of an exclusive social club about the major disruptions to the nation’s economic and daily life that would come from the growing outbreak. As chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Burr is privy to much of the nation’s classified information on threats to national security.

The coronavirus pandemic has devastated the travel industry, from cruises to airlines to hotels. Wyndham was no exception — the company’s stock sold at $59.96 on Feb. 19 but has dropped precipitously, to $25.03 on Monday.

“Senator Burr owed a duty to Congress, the United States government, and citizens of the United States, including Plaintiff, not to use material nonpublic information that he learned by virtue of his duties as a United States Senator in connection with the sale or purchase of any security,” said Jacobson’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

“Had Plaintiff and the market known of the material nonpublic information in Senator Burr’s possession regarding COVID-19, and on which Senator Burr traded, Wyndham’s stock price on February 13, 2020 would have been substantially lower,” the suit continued. “Senator Burr and his wife sold up to $150,000 of Wyndham stock on that date, and therefore he and his wife pocketed up to $150,000 in illegal insider trading proceeds at Plaintiff’s expense.”

Jacobson argued he had suffered harm because he kept his shares while they were trading at artificially inflated prices due to the lack of public knowledge on the coming economic devastation from coronavirus.

Burr asked the Senate Ethics Committee on Friday to review his stock sales and maintained that he “relied solely on public news reports to guide my decision regarding the sale of stocks.” He denied using information that was not public regarding the coronavirus outbreak. Burr is planning to retire at the end of 2022

His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday night about the lawsuit.

