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

Mealey's California Insurance

September 03, 2024
California Federal Judge Continues Jury Trial In Contamination Suit

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A California federal judge continued a jury trial in an environmental contamination coverage suit filed by an insured seeking coverage for groundwater contamination discovered at a local airport.
September 03, 2024
No Reasonable Juror Could Find Water Damage Was Sudden, Accidental, Panel Says

SAN FRANCISCO — The First District California Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court’s judgment in favor of a homeowners insurer after determining that the trial court did not err in instructing the jury regarding the cause of the loss because no reasonable jury could have found that the cause of a burst water pipe was sudden and accidental and, therefore, covered under the policy.
August 30, 2024
Oral Argument Including DOL Set In 9th Circuit ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Case

SAN FRANCISCO — With oral argument set for Sept. 12 in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals case involving the effective vindication doctrine, a health plan participant who filed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act case over a tobacco surcharge has filed a notice of supplemental authorities including a recent Sixth Circuit ruling.
August 30, 2024
Disability Insurer’s Alleged Conduct Does Not Support Request For Punitive Damages

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — An insured’s request for punitive damages against a disability insurer must be dismissed because the insured’s complaint does not allege conduct that supports punitive damages, a California federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion to dismiss the request without prejudice.
August 28, 2024
Dispute Over FCA Public Disclosure Bar Distributed For Conference In Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Aug. 28 distributed for conference a petition for certiorari filed by pharmaceutical companies seeking review of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that the public disclosure bar was not triggered in a case where it reversed a district court’s dismissal of a suit accusing the companies of violating the False Claims Act (FCA) by artificially inflating drug prices.
August 28, 2024
California Judge Enters Judgment In Hotel Insureds’ Coronavirus Coverage Dispute

LOS ANGELES — A California judge entered an amended judgment on a jury’s special verdict in favor of a commercial property insurer in hotel insureds’ breach of contract lawsuit arising from the COVID-19 pandemic after the parties signed a confidential settlement agreement and successfully requested dismissal of the insureds’ appeal.
August 26, 2024
Judge: Fact Issues As To When Water Damage Occurred Preclude Summary Judgment

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California denied an insurer’s motion for partial summary judgment in another insurer’s lawsuit seeking equitable contribution after it was left to defend a subcontractor against underlying claims that it installed faulty concrete in a parking garage, finding that fact issues preclude summary judgment.
August 21, 2024
High Risk Of Developing Complications From COVID-19 Rendered Doctor Disabled

SAN FRANCISCO — A disability insurer’s denial of a pediatrician’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits claim was de novo wrong because the pediatrician’s high risk of exposure to COVID-19 and high risk of developing complications from the virus based on her underlying medical issues rendered her disabled from performing the duties of her own occupation, a California federal judge said in granting the pediatrician’s motion for judgment on the administrative record.
August 16, 2024
9th Circuit Denies Rehearing Bid Based On Loper Bright In Crop Insurance Row

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has denied a petition in which a farm sought panel and en banc rehearing of a crop insurance dispute by arguing that Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo “effectively rejected the Panel’s deference to agency interpretations of legal questions.”
August 15, 2024
Insurer Says Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage, Exception Does Not Apply

SAN FRANCISCO — An insurer reiterates in an appellant reply brief filed in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that a district court erred in finding that a pollution exclusion does not bar coverage for an underlying environmental contamination lawsuit because the underlying lawsuit fails to allege that there was any sudden and accidental pollution.
August 15, 2024
Insureds Appeal Ruling That Their Damage Was Caused By Defect, Deterioration

LOS ANGELES — Insureds are asking the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review a California federal judge’s holding that damages to their property “were caused by a defect, weakness, inadequacy, fault, or unsoundness in design, repair, construction, or materials — which in turn caused wear, tear, . . . deterioration, and wet or dry rot” and that, as a result, their loss is excluded from coverage under their homeowners insurance policy.
August 14, 2024
Patent Attorney Urges High Court To Decline Review Of 9th Circuit FCA Reversal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent attorney who was a district court’s qui tam plaintiff in a suit accusing pharmaceutical companies of violating the False Claims Act (FCA) by artificially inflating drug prices urges the U.S. Supreme Court to decline review of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling reversing the district court’s dismissal, arguing that the Ninth Circuit correctly “held that the public disclosures did not collectively disclose the fraud.”
August 12, 2024
Insureds Drop Appeal In Coronavirus Coverage Suit In California

LOS ANGELES — One day after the insureds filed a request to dismiss their appeal of a Los Angeles County Superior Court’s judgment on a jury’s special verdict in favor of a commercial property insurer in a breach of contract coverage lawsuit arising from the coronavirus pandemic, Presiding Justice Gonzalo C. Martinez on Aug. 9 signed the order dismissing the appeal.
August 12, 2024
Judge Rules Against Insurers In Suit Over Aircraft Leased To Russia Airlines

SAN FRANCISCO — A California judge denied insurers’ motion for summary judgment in insureds’ lawsuit seeking coverage for its $127,810,258.48 in losses arising from aircraft that was leased to Russian airlines and not returned following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, concluding that the insurers have failed to demonstrate that the insureds did not suffer a physical loss under the policy’s aircraft hull coverage.
August 09, 2024
California High Court Reverses Ruling In Insured’s Favor In COVID-19 Coverage Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court on Aug. 8 reversed an appeals court’s ruling in favor of a San Francisco restaurant owner insured in a coverage dispute arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that the lower court erred by declining to enforce the specified cause of loss limitation under the policy’s “Limited Fungi, Bacteria or Virus Coverage” endorsement.
August 07, 2024
Judgment Granted To Insurer Seeking To Rescind Policy For Value Misrepresentation

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge on Aug. 6 granted summary judgment to an insurer that filed a cross-claim for rescission against its insured in a breach of contract suit over the insurer’s failure to pay a claim for fire damages, finding that the insurer was entitled to rescind the policy due to the insured’s material misrepresentations in the policy application, including undervaluing the property by more than $300,000.
August 01, 2024
Judge: Drug Distributor Failed To Establish Potential Coverage For Opioid Suits

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California held that a prescription drug distributor insured failed to establish that five insurance policies spanning 1999-2004 have any potential to cover underlying opioid lawsuits because the lawsuits fail to allege an accident that caused the purported bodily injury, denying the insured’s motion for partial summary judgment.
July 29, 2024
Disability Claimant’s Suit Fails; Policy Rider Clearly Stated Terms, Judge Says

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge granted a disability insurer’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed a breach of contract and bad faith suit filed against a disability income insurer after determining that the insurer’s termination of cost-of-living benefits was proper pursuant to the terms of the policy rider and its termination provision.
July 25, 2024
Insurer Says Other Insurer Owes Coverage To Insured For Hot Tub Injury Suit

SAN JOSE, Calif. — An insurer filed suit in California federal court against another insurer, seeking a declaration that a pollution exclusion and fungi or bacteria exclusion in the other insurer’s policies do not bar coverage to a mutual insured for an underlying suit alleging that the insured’s failure to maintain a hot tub caused an individual to sustain bodily injuries.
July 24, 2024
Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Suit Arising From Public Works Projects

SAN DIEGO — A California appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a commercial general liability insurer in a contractor’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for two underlying actions brought by the San Diego Housing Commission, finding that the insured failed to demonstrate that it suffered damages.
July 23, 2024
California High Court Denies Request To Publish Opinion In Wildfire Coverage Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court denied a homeowners insurer’s petition to publish an appeals court’s opinion that ruled that it did not breach the policy or the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and did not commit financial elder abuse because it paid the proper insureds “all (if not more than)” it had a duty to pay under the policy coverages for dwelling repairs, personal property damage and temporary additional living expenses for their property damage caused by the Woolsey Fire.
July 23, 2024
9th Circuit: California High Court’s Answer Resolves Appeal In Insurer’s Favor

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 22 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of an insurer after the California Supreme Court answer “no” to the panel’s certified question and found that the “actual or potential presence of the COVID-19 virus on an insured's premises generally does not constitute ‘direct physical loss or damage to property’ for purposes of coverage under a commercial property insurance policy.”
July 22, 2024
Decades-Old MOU Is Focus Of Lawsuit Over Reinsurance Billings Dispute

LOS ANGELES — Suing two English reinsurers in a California court in a dispute over “millions” in reinsurance billings arising from asbestos bodily injury claims, an insurer alleges that an incorrect interpretation of a 1984 memorandum of understanding (MOU) is at the root of their refusal to pay.
July 19, 2024
California Supreme Court Says UCL Suit Against Insurer Not Time-Barred

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court on July 18 reversed an appellate panel’s affirmance of the dismissal as time-barred of an insured’s lawsuit against her property insurer for failure to properly investigate a claim, finding that the panel should have applied the four-year statute of limitations under California’s unfair competition law (UCL) to her UCL claim for injunctive relief.
July 18, 2024
Reinsurer Communication, ‘Apex Doctrine’ Discovery Disputes Decided In Coverage Row

SAN FRANCISCO — In separate orders resolving two discovery disputes in a breach of contract and bad faith suit over coverage for property damages wineries sustained during California wildfires, a California federal magistrate judge granted a motion to compel production of the insurer’s communications with reinsurers regarding the claims and denied an “apex doctrine” request to bar one of insurer’s employees from deposition.