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Law360 (November 12, 2020, 3:52 PM EST ) A Missouri federal judge has dropped Hartford Financial Services Group from four dental practices' proposed class action over COVID-19 business losses, agreeing the insurer bears no legal liability as it did not issue the insurance policies.
U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark said it was HFSG's subsidiaries that wrote the policies, meaning it was never a party to the dentists' insurance contracts, terminating the company from the proposed class action on Tuesday.
"Only parties to a contract may be held liable," the judge said. "The policies never reference 'Hartford Financial Services Group,' 'Hartford Financial,' or 'HFSG.'"
In late July, four St. Louis-based practices — The Robert A. Levy DMD LLC, Vanessa N. Keller DMD and Trisha M. Young DMD PC, Rivka Goldenhersh DMD LLC and Moshiri Orthodontics — sued HSFG subsidiaries Sentinel Insurance Co., Twin City Fire Insurance Co. and Hartford Casualty Insurance Co.
According to the suit, the carriers refused to cover the practices' alleged losses because of COVID-19 shutdown orders. The dental offices sought to represent a class of Missouri dental practices and a subclass of Missouri orthodontics practices that bought policies from "The Hartford."
On Tuesday, Judge Clark said the term "The Hartford" in the policies does not refer to HSFG, and the offices failed to demonstrate they held insurance contracts with HFSG. It was clear the dental practices had communications with the policy writing companies Sentinel, Twin City and Hartford Casualty, who issued their policies, but not HFSG, he said.
"While the policies never directly define 'The Hartford,' they include language suggesting that it refers to the entity that issued the policy," Judge Clark said. "The policies offer nothing that would allow the Court to reasonably infer that Hartford Financial was a party to the contract."
HFSG has been asking courts across the country to remove it from similar COVID-19 coverage suits. In September, a California magistrate judge agreed with HFSG that it should be dropped from a waxing salon's pandemic loss suit because its subsidiary Sentinel issued the policy, not HFSG.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said "The Hartford" is only a trade name and not a legal entity. The brand name is "used by multiple, distinct entities, including Sentinel," the judge said.
In October, HSFG told a California federal judge its 10-K form explains the term "The Hartford" is a name that generally refers to it and its subsidiaries. The company said the California state insurance regulator's website only lists its subsidiaries that do business in California, not Hartford Financial Services Group itself.
Counsel for the parties could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday.
HFSG is represented by Anthony Anscombe and Sarah Gordon of Steptoe & Johnson LLP and Patrick J. Kenny of Armstrong Teasdale LLP.
The practices are represented by Anthony S. Bruning of The Bruning Law Firm LLC, and Daniel Scott Levy and Richard S. Cornfeld of Law Office of Richard S. Cornfeld LLC.
The case is Robert Levy, D.M.D., LLC v. Hartford Casualty Insurance Company, case number 4:20-cv-00643, in the U.S. District for the Eastern District of Missouri.
--Editing by Amy Rowe.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
