Mealey's Emerging Insurance Disputes
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August 07, 2024
Delaware Judge Dismisses 1 Excess Insurer From D&O Coverage Dispute
WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware judge dismissed an excess insurer from an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking directors and officers and entity securities liability insurance coverage for an underlying appraisal action.
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August 07, 2024
Connecticut Judge: Board Exclusion Bars Coverage For Disability Discrimination Suit
HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut judge granted summary judgment in favor of an insurer in a Connecticut town’s lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying disability discrimination action brought by a former member of the town’s board of education, finding that the policy board exclusion bars Public Entity Management Liability and Public Entity Employment-Related Practices Liability coverage and the discrimination and employment-related practices exclusions bar the policy’s commercial general liability coverage.
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August 06, 2024
No Coverage Owed For Defective Work Claims, Pennsylvania Panel Affirms
PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania Superior Court panel on Aug. 5 found that faulty workmanship claims against an insured are not an occurrence to trigger coverage under its contractors general insurance policy, affirming a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the insurer on its counterclaim that it has no duty to defend or indemnify.
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August 06, 2024
Parties Dispute ‘Insurrection,’ Other Issues In Post-Trial Appeal Of Oil Seizure Row
NEW YORK — A partial summary judgment ruling, judicial notice and a jury instruction on causation are all at issue in a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals case filed by reinsurers who were ordered to pay CITGO Petroleum Corp. more than $72.5 million in a suit stemming from the February 2020 seizure of crude oil at a Venezuelan port and involving a marine cargo reinsurance policy.
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August 05, 2024
No Automobile Coverage Owed For HPV Transmission, 8th Circuit Affirms
ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 2 affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an automobile insurer in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying claim that the insured transmitted anogenital human papillomavirus (HPV) through sexual activity in his automobile, concluding that the underlying injuries did not "arise out of the use” of the automobile.
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August 05, 2024
Connecticut Judge: No Professional Liability Coverage Owed For Malpractice Suit
DANBURY, Conn. — A Connecticut judge granted a professional liability insurer’s motion for summary judgment in a law firm insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying legal malpractice action, finding that the insurer has established that there is no genuine issue of material fact regarding the basis of its coverage denial.
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August 02, 2024
No E&O Coverage Exists For Trade Secret Judgment, 11th Circuit Affirms
ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 1 held that no coverage exists under a “Sponsored Insurance Agents Errors and Omissions Liability” insurance policy for a $552,677.61 judgment for misappropriation of trade secrets, affirming a lower federal court summary judgment in favor of the insurer in a writ of garnishment action seeking to collecting the judgment.
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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.
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August 01, 2024
Magistrate Grants Continuance For Status Conference In D&O Insurers’ Coverage Row
INDIANAPOLIS — Finding “good cause,” an Indiana federal magistrate judge granted defendant insurers’ motion for a continuance of a status conference in a suit filed against them by an insurer now in rehabilitation, seeking a declaration that specified directors and officers (D&O) policies apply to cover claims in underlying litigation.
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July 31, 2024
9th Circuit Reverses Judgment In Insurance Row Over Application Misrepresentation
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a district court’s grant of summary judgment to insurers in their insureds’ suit seeking coverage for expenses in defending another suit regarding fraud-based claims, finding that the district court erred in applying Nevada law, rather than Texas law, and that pursuant to Texas law, reversal is required because material facts remain in dispute regarding alleged material misrepresentations in the insureds’ application for policy renewal.
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July 26, 2024
COMMENTARY: Cyber War Exclusions
By Peter A. Halprin and Brittany Parks
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July 31, 2024
Panel Affirms Ruling In Favor Of Insureds In Coverage Suit Over Worker Injury
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of a building owner and general contractor in their lawsuit seeking a declaration that a subcontractor’s general liability insurer has a duty to defend them against an underlying lawsuit arising from a worker injury, rejecting the insurer’s assertion that it was not required to provide timely notice to the insureds of its denial of coverage because their insurer was the real party in interest.
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July 31, 2024
Wyoming High Court Accepts Certified Question In Negligence Suit Against Engineer
CHEYENNE, Wyo. —The Wyoming Supreme Court has agreed to answer a certified question from the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a subrogated homeowners insurer’s appeal of a Wyoming federal court’s ruling that its claim against an engineering firm that designed a home’s plumbing is time-barred by the two-year statute of limitations for professional negligence claims.
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July 31, 2024
Plaintiffs Seek Reargument In Coverage Dispute Over Earplug Liability Claims
WILMINGTON, Del. — Plaintiffs seeks reargument of a Delaware judge’s ruling in favor of liability insurers in their lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying earplug product liability multidistrict litigation that resulted in a $6 billion settlement and millions of dollars of defense costs, challenging the judge’s finding that they have failed to demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact regarding their satisfaction of the self-insured retention under any of the insurance policies.
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July 31, 2024
Insurer Has Duty To Indemnify Construction Company, 2nd Circuit Affirms
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals determined that an insurer has a duty to indemnify its construction company insured against underlying personal injury and property damage lawsuits, affirming a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling against the insurer.
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July 31, 2024
Judge Denies Insurers’ Motion For Judgment On The Pleadings To Conserve Resources
MIAMI — A federal judge in Florida denied insurers’ motion for judgment on the pleadings to conserve judicial resources in a 7-Eleven store’s declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking general liability and liquor liability coverage for a customer’s underlying bodily injury action alleging that a 7-Eleven employee physically struck him numerous times, finding that it is appropriate to decide only their motion for summary judgment.
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July 30, 2024
Health System Seeks Rehearing Of Dismissal Of $192M Coronavirus Coverage Dispute
NEW ORLEANS — Texas’ largest nonprofit health system filed a petition seeking rehearing en banc of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ majority opinion that affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of its commercial property insurer in its lawsuit seeking coverage for $192 million in business interruption losses arising from the coronavirus.
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July 30, 2024
Insured Appeals Take-Nothing Judgment In Coverage Dispute Over Wrongful Termination
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — An insured filed a notice in a Florida federal court indicating that he is asking the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review a take-nothing judgment in favor of a primary insurer in his lawsuit seeking coverage under a professional liability, directors and officer's liability and fiduciary liability insurance policy for underlying claims that he was wrongfully terminated by his former employer.
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July 29, 2024
2nd Circuit Reverses Court’s Dismissal Of New York’s Suit Against CGL Insurer
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a lower federal court’s dismissal of the city of New York’s lawsuit seeking commercial general liability coverage for an underlying negligence lawsuit brought by Consolidated Edison Corporation of New York, finding that the insurer failed to provide an adequate explanation for the change in its litigation position and for its “markedly inconsistent factual statements” as to the location of its business.
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July 29, 2024
Broker’s Application For Reargument Is ‘Theatrical Rhetoric,’ Insured Argues
PHILADELPHIA — An insured answered an insurance broker’s application seeking reargument after a Pennsylvania appellate panel affirmed a lower court’s ruling that denied the broker’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict in a coverage dispute arising from an injury from a slip and fall, asserting that the broker’s application for reargument “ignores the standard of review” governing the broker’s appeal and the appellate panel’s decision.
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July 29, 2024
Judge Denies Underwriter’s Dismissal Bid In Yacht Damage Coverage Row With Insurer
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A Kansas federal judge denied an insurance underwriter’s motion to dismiss a coverage dispute in which an insurer seeks a determination that a yacht that was damaged is excluded from coverage, finding that because the court previously decided that it had jurisdiction over the underwriter, the underwriter’s renewed request for dismissal is denied as an “attempt to take a second bite from the proverbial apple.”
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July 29, 2024
No Coverage Owed For Fire Damage To Insured’s Cannabis Crops, Insurer Argues
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — An insurer moved for summary judgment in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for the insured’s claim for losses arising from an exploding lamp that caused fire damage to 998 marijuana plants, arguing to a Connecticut federal court that the insured’s flowering room’s two-month unavailability had no effect on its production process to warrant business income coverage and the insured’s only purported losses stem from its inability to sell cannabis products that were derived from the fire-damaged crops and property.
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July 26, 2024
Judge Tosses Coverage Suit Over Day Care Negligence For Lack Of Jurisdiction
ST. LOUIS — A federal judge in Missouri on July 25 dismissed without prejudice an insurer’s lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying negligence claim against a day care worker who pleaded guilty to assault against a minor, finding that the insurer’s lawsuit fails to present a controversy appropriate for judicial determination.
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July 26, 2024
Panel: Auto Insurer Owes No Coverage For Wrongful Death Suit Arising From Shooting
CLEVELAND — An Ohio appeals panel on July 25 affirmed a lower court’s ruling that an automobile insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify its off-duty police officer insured against an underlying wrongful death lawsuit arising from a fatal shooting, finding that it was not the insured’s “ownership, maintenance, or use” of his vehicle that led to the underlying death.
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July 26, 2024
Judge: Sexual Abuse Claims Against Coach Are Not ‘Occurrences’; No Coverage Owed
TACOMA, Wash. — A federal judge in Washington granted a homeowners insurer’s motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify its insured against an underlying sexual abuse lawsuit, concluding that the underlying claims of intentional sexual abuse are not accidental and, as a result, do not constitute an “occurrence” to trigger policy coverage.