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

Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

March 13, 2024
AT&T Retirees File Putative Class ERISA Suit Over Pension Risk Transfer Deal

BOSTON — Asserting in part that “reinsurance of ‘Pension Risk Transfer’ liabilities in Bermuda poses unique risks to pensioners,” four AT&T Inc. retirees who participated in a defined-benefit pension plan filed a class complaint in Massachusetts federal court challenging a “de-risking” transaction under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
March 12, 2024
Insurers Tell N.C. High Court To Apply 27-Year-Old Precedent To Coronavirus Dispute

RALEIGH, N.C. — Insurers argued to the North Carolina Supreme Court that it should affirm an appeals court’s reversal of a lower court’s grant of partial summary judgment in favor of restaurant insureds in a COVID-19 coverage dispute, responding to the insured’s appellant argument that the phrase “physical loss or physical damage” includes loss of the physical use of property under the state’s “long-standing principles of insurance contract interpretation.”
March 12, 2024
Insured Asks 3rd Circuit To Reject Insurers’ Late-Notice Argument In Asbestos Suit

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should reject an attempt by insurers involved in an asbestos coverage suit to rewrite New Jersey’s late-notice law, an insured says in urging the Third Circuit to reverse a district court’s ruling entered in favor of the insurers.
March 12, 2024
Judge Administratively Closes Suit Against Insurance Agent After Settlement Announced

HARTFORD, Conn. — The same day parties announced that they reached a settlement “subject to the parties’ negotiation and execution of a mutually acceptable settlement agreement,” a federal judge in Connecticut administratively closed the insurer’s lawsuit alleging that an insurance agent’s failure to include exclusions in an insurance policy resulted in it paying more than $1 million in legal fees and expenses to settle an underlying worker injury lawsuit.
March 11, 2024
Class Certification Bid Draws Opposition In DUFTA Case Involving Insurer

WILMINGTON, Del. — Arguing in part that proposed class representatives “appear to be as unqualified as” one rejected in Gordon v. Sonar Capital Mgmt. LLC, defendants in a suit over an alleged scheme to strip capital from an insurance subsidiary on which many policyholders depend for long-term care (LTC) disability benefits urged the Delaware Chancery Court to deny certification of the proposed class.
March 08, 2024
Claimant Says Additional LTD Benefits Are Owed Under Disability Plan

PORTLAND, Maine — In a March 7 complaint filed in Maine federal court, a disability claimant maintains that she is entitled to unpaid long-term disability (LTD) benefits under a disability plan because she remains disabled under the terms of the plan.
March 08, 2024
District Court’s Decision Should Be Affirmed, Disability Claimant Maintains

PHILADELPHIA — A district court’s judgment in favor of a disability claimant should be affirmed because the court properly found that the plan’s termination of the claimant’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits was arbitrary and capricious and that the decision was inadequate for a number of reasons, the claimant says in an appellee brief filed in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
March 08, 2024
Contractor: 11th Circuit Must Affirm Judge’s Denial Of Insurer’s Attorney Fees

ATLANTA — A contractor tells the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a response brief that a Florida federal judge was correct to deny its insurer’s request for attorney fees in one of two ongoing appeals stemming from the federal judge’s finding that the contractor and a subcontractor were not entitled to a defense from the insurer due to the presence of a policy exclusion.
March 07, 2024
Contractor Seeks 6th Circuit’s Review Of Coverage Rulings In Wall Collapse Suit

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Less than two weeks after a building owner filed a notice of appeal to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the contractor responsible for the building’s renovation work followed suit and filed its own notice of appeal, seeking review of a Tennessee federal judge’s ruling and judgment entered in favor of the insurer in the dispute between the building owner, contractor and insurer over coverage for the replacement of the building’s wall that fell during renovation work.
March 06, 2024
Amicus Curiae Argues In Support Of Drug Distributor In Opioid Coverage Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — United Policyholders (UP) filed an amicus curiae brief in support of a prescription drug distributor insured asking the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling that there is no coverage owed for lawsuits prompted by the opioid epidemic because the underlying claims “describe exclusively deliberate conduct,” arguing that the ruling “deviates from every other court in the United States that has considered whether the allegations against opioid distributors constitute an ‘occurrence’ or ‘accident’ under the terms of insurance policies like those at issue here.”
March 05, 2024
Reinsurer Seeks Reconsideration In Default Dispute In Settlement Reimbursement Case

OMAHA, Neb. — Arguing in part that “the prima facie standard only applies at the pre-trial stage,” a Brazil-based reinsurer has asked a Nebraska federal judge to reconsider denying its motion to set aside a default previously entered against it in the suit over reimbursement for a settlement reached with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposure.
March 05, 2024
Liability Insurer Says 10th Circuit Should Affirm Order Barring Coverage In MDL

DENVER — A liability insurer argued in its answer brief in the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the appellate court should affirm a district court’s ruling that it does not owe a duty to indemnify the appellant health insurer in an underlying multidistrict litigation (MDL) antitrust dispute involving an excess errors and omissions (E&O) policy issued by a now-insolvent insurer.
March 01, 2024
City Seeks Rehearing In Coverage Suit Over Tax Revenue Losses Arising From Pandemic

ST. LOUIS — A Missouri city asked the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling that a commercial property insurer owes no coverage for the city’s tax revenue losses due to governmental closure orders in response to the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that the “inartful” policy is not clear and unambiguous.
February 29, 2024
Travelers Appeals Finding It Wasn’t Owed Contribution In Construction Coverage

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A contractor’s insurer that sought equitable contribution and equitable indemnification from a subcontractor’s insurer filed a notice of appeal on Feb. 28 in a California federal court, appealing the ruling of a federal judge who found that the subcontractor’s insurer owed no defense to the contractor as an additional insured.
February 29, 2024
Parties Brief Corner Post In Health Plans’ Consolidated Illegal Exaction Cases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In supplemental briefing in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the government and group health plans both say a pending U.S. Supreme Court case will not resolve their dispute in consolidated cases where the plans allege that the government illegally exacted contributions from them under the Transitional Reinsurance Program (TRP) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).
February 28, 2024
9th Circuit Sets Argument In Dispute Involving What Are ‘Farming Activities’

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has set oral argument for April 5 in a crop insurance dispute involving federal reinsurance, the term “farming activities” and the structure of a farming operation.
February 27, 2024
Parties Brief Sovereign Immunity In Suit Over Microcaptive Reporting

SALT LAKE CITY — Following a dismissal motion hearing in a case over a 2016 Internal Revenue Service reporting requirement for microcaptive insurance companies, the U.S. government and the plaintiffs have filed supplemental briefs at the direction of a Utah federal judge to address whether sovereign immunity bars certain monetary relief.
February 27, 2024
Debtors Of Cryptocurrency Company Seek Recovery Of $22.5M Improper Premium Payment

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The wind-down debtors of a cryptocurrency company have sued directors and officers liability insurers in a New Jersey court seeking to recover no less than $22.5 million in premiums plus interest and costs, accusing the insurers of a “cash grab” and alleging that the premium funds were part of transactions that unfairly or improperly depleted the debtors’ assets or improperly diluted the claims against those assets.
February 23, 2024
Building Owner Files Notice Of Appeal To 6th Circuit In Wall Collapse Coverage Suit

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A building owner filed a notice of appeal to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals following a judgment entered by a Tennessee federal judge in favor of the insurer in a dispute between the building owner, contractor and insurer over coverage for the replacement of the building’s wall that fell during renovation work.
February 22, 2024
Liability Insurer Seeks Extension To Respond In Dispute With Health Insurer

DENVER — A liability insurer moved for an extension to file an answer brief in a health insurer’s appeal to the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals of a district court’s ruling that the liability insurer does not owe a duty to indemnify the health insurer in an underlying multidistrict litigation antitrust dispute involving an excess errors and omissions (E&O) policy issued by a now-insolvent insurer.
February 22, 2024
Property Owner Sues Guaranty Association, Says Insolvent Insurer Didn’t Cover Loss

SANFORD, Fla. — A property owner on Feb. 16 filed a complaint in a Florida state court against the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), asserting that it has been statutorily “activated” to pay outstanding claims for a now-insolvent property insurer that was previously ordered into liquidation.
February 21, 2024
Parties Seek Dismissal Of Federal Coverage Dispute Over Arbitration Proceeding

BOSTON — An insured and a private company management liability insurer asked a Massachusetts federal court on Feb. 15 to dismiss with prejudice their dispute over whether the insurer has a duty to defend its insured in an underlying arbitration proceeding alleging that it violated its fiduciary duty and breached an operating agreement.
February 20, 2024
Marine Transportation Company, Insurer Settle Environmental Liability Coverage Suit

TACOMA, Wash. — An insured marine transportation company seeking coverage for environmental liabilities and defense costs incurred as a result of contamination allegedly caused by the insured’s operations settled its breach of contract and bad faith suit with its insurer, according to a notice of settlement filed by the parties in Washington federal court.
February 15, 2024
Bid For Reconsideration On Third-Party Implied Indemnity Claim Is Disputed

JACKSON, Miss. — Domino’s Pizza LLC and related entities are seeking reconsideration of a ruling that a third-party claim for implied indemnity survives dismissal in a dispute involving a franchisee and commutation of reinsurance, and in an opposition brief, third-party plaintiffs tell a Mississippi federal court that this case differs from two the Domino’s entities cited.
February 13, 2024
Subcontractor Dismisses Certain Claims In Worker Injury Coverage Dispute

NEW YORK — A subcontractor on Feb. 12 voluntarily dismissed with prejudice its claims against a property owner and a construction manager in the subcontractor’s lawsuit filed in a New York federal court seeking coverage for claims brought by two of its workers.