Mealey's California Insurance : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's California Insurance

January 28, 2025
Insurers Owe Defense, Indemnity For Underlying PFAS, AFFF Suits, Insured Says

SAN FRANCISCO — An insured maintains in its reply in support of its partial motion for summary judgment, filed in California federal court, that its insurers owe coverage for underlying bodily injury and property damage lawsuits related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) allegedly contained in aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) that were manufactured, sold and distributed by the insured because the underlying suits are potentially covered under the policies and the insurers failed to prove that their policies’ pollution exclusion bars coverage.
January 27, 2025
Panel Affirms Ruling In Favor Of Insurer, Agent In Camp Fire Coverage Dispute

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California appeals court on Jan. 24 affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a homeowners insurer and an insurance agent in a negligence lawsuit arising from the November 2018 Camp Fire, concluding that the agent’s alleged misrepresentations pertain to the scope of coverage under an insurance policy that was no longer in effect at the time of the wildfire loss.
January 24, 2025
Reality TV Stars Sue Los Angeles, Public Utility To Recover Palisades Fire Losses

LOS ANGELES — Realty television stars Spencer and Heidi Pratt and others sued Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) for inverse condemnation in a California court, alleging that the Palisades Fire that began on Jan. 7 “was an inescapable and unavoidable consequence of the water supply system servicing areas in and around Pacific Palisades” and that the defendants’ operation of the system and related infrastructure was a substantial cause of their damages.
January 24, 2025
Settlement In Principle Reported In Row Over Jet Leased To Russian Operator

SAN FRANCISCO — Citing “reports that Plaintiffs have reached settlements in principle with all Defendants,” a California state court judge vacated an April 7 trial date and other deadlines in an international aviation insurance coverage dispute involving Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
January 23, 2025
16 Suits Filed Against Southern California Edison To Recover Eaton Wildfire Damages

LOS ANGELES — A “long time” real estate agent in Altadena, Calif., sued Southern California Edison Co. and Edison International in the Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking compensation for damages she suffered from the Eaton Wildfire and alleging that the fire began “when electrical equipment within Southern California Edison Company’s utility infrastructure contacted, or caused sparks to contact, surrounding vegetation,” making her lawsuit the 16th one filed against the defendants to date.
January 22, 2025
Insurer’s Silica Dust Coverage Suit Transferred From Minnesota To California

MINNEAPOLIS — An insurer’s suit seeking a coverage declaration for underlying silica dust exposure suits filed against an insured must be transferred to California federal court where a similar suit filed by the insured is pending because the insured filed the California suit before the insurer filed its suit in Minnesota federal court, a Minnesota federal judge said Jan. 21 in granting the insured’s motion to transfer.
January 17, 2025
Issues Of Fact Exist As To Cause Of Insureds’ Shutdown During Wildfires

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge partially denied an insurer’s motion for summary judgment in a breach of contract and bad faith case filed by insureds seeking additional coverage for business losses incurred as a result of wildfires after determining that issues of fact exist as to whether two of the insureds’ businesses were forced to close for a period of time because of soot and ash damages from the fires.
January 15, 2025
Questions Of Fact Exist On Disability Insurer’s Initial Denial Of LTD Claim

SAN FRANCISCO — A bad faith claim alleged against a disability insurer can proceed because questions of fact exist on the issue of whether the insurer’s initial denial of a long-term disability (LTD) benefits claim was reasonable based on the evidence available to the insurer, a California federal judge said.
January 14, 2025
Judge Refuses To Reconsider Ruling On Request To Transfer Silica Coverage Suit

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge denied an insurer’s motion to reconsider a ruling on the denial of the insurer’s request to transfer an insured’s suit seeking coverage for underlying bodily injury suits arising out of silica dust exposure to Minnesota federal court because the insurer failed to show that there are new issues of material fact that were not previously considered by the court.
January 13, 2025
Judge Amends Summary Judgment Order Over Insurer’s Liability Under Lost Policy

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal judge amended his previous order denying an insurer’s motion for summary judgment on a suit brought against it for breach of contract and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by the successor-in-interest to a school that is being sued for a 1976 sexual assault of a student by a teacher, writing that the order conflated which policy was lost and which one the insurer conceded issuing.
January 13, 2025
Bid For Review Of 9th Circuit Crop Insurance Ruling Under Loper Bright Fails

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its Jan. 13 order list, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a certiorari petition in which a farm argued that Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo should have prevented the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals from deferring to a regulatory interpretation of the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. (FCIC) in a crop insurance case.
January 10, 2025
Disability Insurer Wrongfully Terminated Benefits, Woman With Long COVID Says

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A woman who was diagnosed with long COVID filed suit on Jan. 9 in California federal court against her disability insurer, alleging that the insurer wrongfully terminated her long-term disability (LTD) benefits after determining that she was able to perform the duties of her own occupation as the director of operations at a museum.
January 10, 2025
Claimant Met Burden Of Showing She Is Disabled From Own Occupation, Judge Says

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted a disability claimant’s motion for judgment and denied a disability insurer’s motion for judgment after determining that the disability claimant met her burden of proving that she is disabled from performing the duties of her own occupation.
January 08, 2025
Biopharmaceutical Company, Insurer Stipulate To Dismiss D&O Coverage Dispute

LOS ANGELES — After announcing that a settlement has been reached in principle, a biopharmaceutical company insured and its insurer filed a joint stipulation to dismiss a directors and officers liability coverage dispute arising from a lawsuit brought by the insured’s former employee.
January 06, 2025
Some Defendants Reach Undisclosed Settlement In Jet Coverage Lawsuit

SAN FRANCISCO — A few defendants have been dismissed with prejudice from an international aviation insurance coverage dispute involving Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pursuant to a confidential settlement approved by a California state court judge.
January 06, 2025
Citing Wildfire Risks, California Issues Net Cost Of Reinsurance Regulation

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Department of Insurance has issued a Net Cost of Reinsurance (NCOR) in Ratemaking Regulationthat Commissioner Ricardo Lara says was prompted by insurers pulling back from the state’s property insurance market in light of the growing risk of wildfires.
December 12, 2024
Breach Of Contract, Bad Faith Claims Will Remain In Federal Court, Judge Says

LOS ANGELES — Breach of contract and bad faith claims against a life insurer will proceed in California federal court because remand to state court is not warranted as complete diversity of citizenship exists, a California federal judge said after determining that the beneficiaries’ negligence claim cannot proceed against the nondiverse life insurer agent who was working in the scope of her employment for the life insurer.
December 12, 2024
Judge: Assignee Lacks Standing To Recover Emotional Distress Damages From Insurer

CHICAGO — A California federal judge held that an assignee cannot establish standing under California Insurance Code Section 11580(b)(2) to recover her emotional distress damages from an insurer as judgment creditor of her former employer, granting the insurer’s motion to dismiss her lawsuit arising from an underlying discrimination judgment in her favor but allowing the assignee leave to amend one of her claims.
December 11, 2024
No Coverage Owed For Regal Cinemas’ Coronavirus Losses, 9th Circuit Affirms

PASADENA, Calif.— The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of insurers in Regal Cinemas’ breach of contract lawsuit seeking recovery for its revenue losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that, pursuant to New York law, Regal Cinemas was not insured for its alleged business losses.
December 10, 2024
Panel: Reservation Court Has Jurisdiction In Tribe’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a tribal court has subject matter jurisdiction over an insurance company in a dispute over the tribe’s claims for business interruption losses at its casino caused by the coronavirus pandemic, affirming a lower federal court on the alterative ground that the insurance policy at issue satisfies Montana’s consensual-relationship exception.
December 09, 2024
California Panel: Abuse Or Molestation Exclusion Bars Coverage For Spa Owner

LOS ANGELES — A California appeals panel held that a commercial insurance policy’s “abuse or molestation” exclusion bars coverage for an underlying lawsuit alleging that a spa owner insured sexually assaulted and molested three of its customers during massage sessions, affirming a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the insurer in the insured’s breach of contract lawsuit.
December 05, 2024
Doctor Entitled To Almost $98K In Attorney Fees For Success On Disability Claim

SAN FRANCISCO — A pediatrician who successfully prevailed on her claim for long-term disability (LTD) benefits based on her high risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus is entitled to $97,965 in attorney fees and $625 in costs because the pediatrician succeeded on the merits of her disability claim and the disability insurer presented no special circumstances that would warrant against an award, a California federal judge said in granting the pediatrician’s motion for attorney fees and costs.
December 03, 2024
Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Amber Heard’s Counterclaims In Defamation Coverage Suit

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal of Amber Heard’s breach of contract and bad faith counterclaims in the insurer’s declaratory judgment lawsuit alleging that it has no duty to defend or indemnify her for a defamation judgment awarded to Johnny Depp.
December 03, 2024
Following John’s Grill, Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In COVID-19 Suit

SAN DIEGO — Reconsidering its earlier holding in favor of a diner insured in light of John's Grill, Inc. v. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., a California appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s judgment in favor of an insurer in the diner’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its business losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
December 02, 2024
Construction Company Alleges Bad Faith Cross-Claim Against CGL Insurer

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —A construction company insured answered a commercial general liability insurer’s first amended complaint and filed cross-claims for breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and seeks equitable contribution as assignee of an excess insurer that funded its $2,250,000 settlement of an underlying construction defects lawsuit.