Mealey's Emerging Insurance Disputes : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Emerging Insurance Disputes

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
Illinois Panel: No Coverage Owed For Suit Alleging Willful Acts Against Professor

MOUNT VERNON, Ill. — An Illinois appeals court on March 4 held that an underlying lawsuit alleging that a university professor insured’s conduct was “willful, intentional, and retaliatory” does not trigger coverage under a personal umbrella liability insurance policy, affirming a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the insurer in its declaratory judgment lawsuit.
March 05, 2024
Panel: No Coverage Owed For Claims Arising From Warehouse Collapse Caused By Tornado

ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 4 affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer in its lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that it had no duty to defend or indemnify its insured against underlying wrongful death and personal injury claims arising from a warehouse collapse that was caused by a tornado, finding that there is no coverage because the insured did not own, rent or occupy the warehouse when it collapsed.
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 04, 2024
Panel Affirms, Remands To Establish Whether Policy Exclusion Applies Case By Case

FRANKFORT, Ky. — On remand from the Kentucky Supreme Court, a Kentucky appeals panel on March 1 affirmed a lower court’s finding as to an insurer’s duty to defend against underlying lawsuits alleging that the insured violated federal health care laws, remanding for the lower court to conduct an evidentiary hearing to establish on a case-by-case basis whether an exclusion precludes directors and officers and professional liability insurance coverage.
March 04, 2024
Parties Ordered To Refile Stipulation Of Dismissal In Worker Injury Coverage Suit

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York ordered a subcontractor, a property owner and a construction manager to refile under the correct Federal Rules of Civil Procedure their stipulation of dismissal of the claims between them in the subcontractor’s lawsuit arising from personal injury actions brought by two of its workers.
March 01, 2024
Tribal Court Has Jurisdiction Over Tribe’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit, 9th Circuit Affirms

SEATTLE — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 29 affirmed a lower federal court’s finding that a tribal court has subject matter jurisdiction over a coronavirus coverage suit involving tribal properties on tribal land that the Suquamish Tribe brought against “nonmember, off-reservation” insurers that participate in a program that is tailored to and offered exclusively to tribes.
March 01, 2024
Insurer Owes Defense For Defamation Suit Against Employer, Indiana Panel Affirms

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Court of Appeals held that an insurer has a duty to defend its insured against an underlying defamation, abuse of process, malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress lawsuit brought by the insured’s former employee, rejecting the insurer’s contention that the policy’s “knowing violation of rights of another,” “material published with knowledge of falsity” and “criminal acts” exclusions bar coverage.
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
3rd Circuit Denies Drug Manufacturer’s Petition To Rehear D&O Coverage Dispute

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 28 denied a pharmaceutical drug manufacturer insured’s petition for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc, refusing to disturb its finding that an excess directors and officers liability insurer has no duty to pay the insured’s settlement and defense costs arising from an underlying shareholder class action alleging that it artificially inflated its stock when it misrepresented the results of a clinical drug study.
February 29, 2024
Indiana Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In Purdue’s Suit Arising From Coronavirus

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana appeals court on Feb. 28 affirmed a lower court’s ruling in favor of an all-risks commercial insurer in the Trustees of Purdue University’s declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking coverage for its business interruption losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that Purdue’s claim does not fall under the unambiguous policy coverage for physical property loss or damage.
February 28, 2024
Montana High Court Affirms Ruling In Contractor’s Favor In Its Suit Against Agent

HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Supreme Court on Feb. 27 determined that a lower court did not err in granting summary judgment as to liability in favor of a general contractor in its lawsuit alleging that its insurance agent failed to procure the coverage it requested, affirming a $1,205,518.63 final judgment in favor of the contractor in a coverage dispute arising from underlying negligence, professional negligence and breach of contract claims brought by the developer of a condominium building.
February 28, 2024
Panel Refuses To Rehear Whether CGL Insurer Has Duty To Indemnify Deli Owner

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals refused to reconsider its holding that an appellant is precluded from relitigating whether a commercial general liability insurer must indemnify its deli owner insured for liability arising from the appellant’s underlying state court injury lawsuit over a stabbing at the deli, standing by its ruling that affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of the insurer’s motion to dismiss.
February 28, 2024
Texas High Court Partly Vacates Ruling In $220M SEC Fraud Coverage Suit

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court conditionally granted in part insurers’ request for mandamus relief in an insured’s lawsuit seeking directors and officers liability insurance coverage for an underlying $220 million securities class action settlement, finding that the lower court abused its discretion in concluding that the settlement is binding or admissible in the coverage lawsuit.
February 28, 2024
Reinsurers Turn To 2nd Circuit In Oil Seizure Row Involving Insurrection Clause

NEW YORK — Reinsurers who were ordered to pay CITGO Petroleum Corp. more than $72.5 million following a jury trial in a suit stemming from the February 2020 seizure of crude oil at a Venezuelan port and involving a marine cargo reinsurance policy have obtained a supersedeas bond and initiated an appeal.
February 27, 2024
Judge Clarifies Discovery Scope After Confusion About AI Insurance Tools

CHICAGO — Given the court’s and parties’ own confusion about the scope of artificial intelligence tools potentially used in sorting complex and potentially fraudulent claims from more standard ones, homeowner plaintiffs and their insurer should confer and determine what exactly is at issue before conducting further discovery, a federal judge in Illinois said in a docket entry order in a case involving the Fair Housing Act.
February 27, 2024
Delaware High Court: Letter About Paraquat Exposure Does Not Constitute Claim

WILMINGTON, Del. — The Delaware Supreme Court on Feb. 26 affirmed a lower court’s finding that an insurer owes a duty to defend its insured against underlying bodily injury suits arising out of exposure to paraquat, a chemical compound manufactured by the insured for use in herbicides, because a letter from a law firm sent to the insured a year before the policies at issue incepted did not constitute a claim for damages.
February 27, 2024
Louisiana High Court Refuses To Disturb Rulings In Favor Of Insurer, Engineer

NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Supreme Court on Feb. 27 refused to review an appeals court’s affirmation of a lower court’s summary judgment rulings in favor of an insurer and engineer in a lawsuit arising from a contractor’s claims that plans, specifications and bidding documents were inadequate and insufficient to properly construct a road in Terrebonne Parish, refusing to disturb the appeals court’s conclusion that because an engineer insured has no liability to Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government (TPCG) as a matter of law, the engineer’s professional liability insurer also cannot be held liable to TPCG.
February 27, 2024
Michigan Panel Affirms Ruling In Favor Of Insurance Agent In Negligence Suit

DETROIT — A Michigan appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary disposition in favor of an insurance agent and agency in an insured’s negligence lawsuit arising from its lack of flood coverage, finding that the defendants did not owe the insured a duty to assess and ensure the adequacy of its business insurance coverage and that the insured failed to establish a special relationship giving rise to that duty.
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 26, 2024
U.S. High Court Vacates Administrative Stay In Boy Scouts’ Bankruptcy Plan Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court vacated Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.’s Feb. 16 order that administratively stayed a Delaware federal court’s order affirming a bankruptcy judge’s confirmation of the Boy Scouts of America’s third modified, fifth amended Chapter 11 reorganization plan that contemplates the creation of a settlement trust to “assume liability for all Abuse Claims,” denying the application for stay.
February 26, 2024
4th Circuit Refuses To Rehear No Coverage, No Bad Faith Ruling

RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied an insured’s petition to rehear its opinion that affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a professional liability insurer in a breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit, standing by its holding that the insured failed to create a genuine dispute of fact about the reasonableness of the insurer’s refusal to defend her against an underlying lawsuit.
February 23, 2024
Pa. High Court Tosses State Law Question Of Joint Underwriting Association Status

PHILADELPHIA — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed a previously granted petition for certification of a state law question regarding the private or public entity status of the Pennsylvania Professional Liability Joint Underwriting Association (JUA), which provides coverage to health care providers, including those previously insured by insurers in liquidation, finding that the high court “improvidently granted this certification request” because the question “is principally one of federal law.”
February 23, 2024
1st Circuit Says Insurer Not Entitled To Reimbursement For Settlement, Defense Costs

BOSTON — A district court erred in finding that an insurer is entitled to reimbursement for defense and settlement costs paid on behalf of its insureds to settle an underlying bodily injury suit stemming from an employee’s contact with raw sewage because the insureds never agreed to reimburse the insurer for any settlement costs and the policy does not include a provision allowing for the reimbursement of costs paid on behalf of the insureds, the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Feb. 22 in reversing the district court’s rulings related to the insurer’s claim for reimbursement.
February 23, 2024
New York Appeals Court Modifies Summary Judgment Order, Vacates Attorney Fee Award

NEW YORK — A New York appeals court held that conflicting testimony as to a contractor’s request for insurance coverage precludes summary judgment in its favor in a lawsuit arising from an injury at a construction site, unanimously modifying the trial court’s order to deny the contractor’s cross-motion for summary judgment and vacating the attorney fee award in its favor.