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

Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

April 29, 2024
Duke Dismisses D&O Primary Insurer From Coverage Suit Over Antitrust Settlement

RALEIGH, N.C. — Duke University voluntarily dismissed the primary insurer from its lawsuit seeking directors and officers liability coverage for its settlement of an underlying antitrust lawsuit, indicating to a North Carolina federal court that it has resolved its dispute with the insurer.
April 26, 2024
Insurer Seeks Texas High Court Review Of Majority’s Reversal In Tornado Dispute

AUSTIN, Texas — A homeowners insurer asked the Texas Supreme Court to review a Texas appellate court majority’s reversal of a lower court’s judgment against insureds in a coverage dispute arising from tornado damage, challenging the majority’s conclusion that the term “windstorm” in the policy’s “Windstorm or Hail Deductible” is ambiguous and that the insureds’ construction of it was not unreasonable.
April 26, 2024
CGL Insurer Dismissed From Coverage Dispute Arising From Opioid Epidemic

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Parties filed a stipulation in a South Carolina federal court dismissing one commercial general liability insurer without prejudice from the insurers’ lawsuit seeking a declaration that they have no duty to defend or indemnify against governmental entities’ underlying lawsuits alleging that their insured caused or contributed to the opioid crisis by improperly marketing, distributing and selling opioid medications.
April 25, 2024
Liberty Mutual Sues Sibling Medical Providers For Fraud, RICO Violations

FLINT, Mich. — Liberty Mutual sued a physical therapy provider, a chiropractic provider and the brothers who run them in a Michigan federal court, asserting violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and common-law fraud related to alleged overbilling for medically unnecessary services or for those that were not provided.
April 25, 2024
Bid For Ruling As To Coverage Exclusions Is Disputed In Suit Over Water Damage

PHOENIX — In a reply brief challenging arguments by an insurer and reinsurer that the ruling it seeks would be advisory, the insured tells an Arizona federal court that what it is really requesting is a proper “partial summary adjudication . . . on two issues of law that are critical in this insurance coverage and bad faith action” over water damage.
April 25, 2024
Insolvent Insurers’ Owner Asks Delaware Court To Vacate $524M Foreign Judgment

NEW CASTLE, Del. — A judgment debtor and former owner of insolvent insurers ordered by a North Carolina federal court to pay a $524,009,051.26 judgment to a Puerto Rico-based insurer asked a Delaware state court to vacate the foreign judgment, asserting that the insurer has provided “evidence that no payment is required by” the debtor under a reinsurance trust backed by the debtor’s $25 million guarantee.
April 24, 2024
Railroad Seeks Final Judgment, Certification On Preclusion In Mine Subsidence Row

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — After filing a notice of appeal regarding a partial dismissal order in a suit over mine subsidence claims, a railroad company has moved in an Illinois federal court requesting “two alternative grounds for appellate jurisdiction” that it says would “simplify briefing.”
April 23, 2024
Insured Files Complaint, Says Additional Coverage Owed For Asbestos Suits

PHILADELPHIA — An insured filed suit in Pennsylvania federal court against its insurer, seeking a declaration that the insurer owes coverage for underlying asbestos bodily injury and alleging that the insurer breached the insurance policies at issue by terminating the insured’s defense and indemnity costs based the insurer’s belief that the underlying suits constitute one occurrence under the policies at issue.
April 22, 2024
Suquamish Tribe Opposes Insurers’ Petition for Rehearing In COVID-19 Coverage Suit

SEATTLE —The Suquamish Tribe opposed insurers’ petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc asking the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its Feb. 29 opinion that affirmed a federal court’s finding that a tribal court has subject matter jurisdiction over a COVID-19 coverage suit involving tribal properties on tribal land, arguing that the insurers’ argument “distorts” the panel’s ruling and controlling law.
April 22, 2024
Question Of Fact Exists On Insured’s Knowledge Of Contamination, Insured Says

ATLANTA — A district court’s ruling that no coverage is owed to an insured for contamination cleanup costs caused by the release of petroleum and other contaminants from an underground storage tank at a gas station should be reversed because a disputed issue of fact exists as to whether the insured knew about the contamination before the issuance of the policy, the insured says in its April 19 appellant reply brief filed in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
April 19, 2024
Winemaker Sues Insurers In Washington Court, Seeks Coverage For Defective Wine

SEATTLE — A wine producer sued its insurer for declaratory judgment and breach of contract in a Washington court, seeking coverage for the “tragic damage to 320,922 cases of premium Washington wine” that resulted in a loss of more than $8 million.
April 18, 2024
Amici File Briefs In Support Of Insurer’s High Court Appeal Of Remanded Class Action

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two sets of amici curiae filed briefs on April 17 in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting an insurer’s petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding that a class action challenging its practices fits within the internal affairs and home state controversy exceptions to the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).
April 18, 2024
D&O Insurers File Defenses To Insurer In Rehabilitation’s Breach Of Contract Suit

INDIANAPOLIS — Primary and excess directors and officers (D&O) insurers that issued policies to an insurer now in rehabilitation filed defenses in an Indiana federal court to the insurer in rehabilitation’s suit against them that seeks a declaration that specified D&O policies apply to cover claims in underlying litigation.
April 18, 2024
Primary Insurer Seeks Review From Oregon High Court In Contribution Coverage Suit

SALEM, Ore. — A primary insurer filed a petition for review in the Oregon Supreme Court, seeking review of the Oregon Court of Appeals’ reversal of a trial court’s ruling in favor of the primary insurer in a contribution coverage dispute between primary and excess insurers over the environmental contamination cleanup costs incurred by the insureds.
April 17, 2024
Insureds Sue Excess D&O Insurers For Bad Faith, Seek Coverage For Receiver’s Claims

CLEVELAND — The former chief executive officer and the general counsel of Dream Center Education Holdings LLC sued their excess directors and officers liability insurers for breach of contract and bad faith in an Ohio federal court, alleging that the insurers’ denials of coverage for a receiver’s underlying lawsuit “are both baseless and unreasonable.”
April 16, 2024
AG Sides With Insured In UCL Time Limit Case Before California High Court

SAN FRANCISCO — California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an amicus curiae brief with the state’s Supreme Court supporting an insured in her challenge to the dismissal as time-barred of her lawsuit claiming that her insurer failed to properly investigate a claim, writing that the court should have applied the four-year statute of limitations based on her claim for injunctive relief under California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
April 16, 2024
Parties In Mold, Construction Defects Suit File Supplemental Authorities In 11th Circuit

ATLANTA — An insurer and insureds involved in a dispute over coverage for mold damage discovered in an insured hotel filed supplemental authorities on April 15 in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, citing cases that each side claims are relevant to the issue of whether the policy at issue provides coverage for losses caused by a construction defect even if the cost to fix the defect is not covered.
April 16, 2024
Primary Insurer Files Suit, Seeks Declaration On Policies’ Remaining Aggregate Limits

PORTLAND, Ore. — A primary insurer filed suit in Oregon federal court against its insured and the insured’s excess insurers, seeking a declaration as to whether the aggregate limits of its policies have been exhausted by payments made on behalf of the insured for environmental contaminations claims.
April 15, 2024
Freddie Mac, Lead Insurer In D&O Coverage Dispute Finalize Settlement

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac) notified a District of Columbia federal court that it has reached a settlement with the lead insurer in its breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking directors and officers liability coverage for underlying expenses it incurred on behalf of its directors, officers and employees who were subpoenaed by the Securities and Exchange Commission during an investigation and subsequent lawsuit.
April 15, 2024
Pollution Exclusion Does Not Bar Coverage For Carbon Monoxide Claim, Insureds Say

BISMARCK, N.D. — A pollution exclusion does not bar coverage for an underlying bodily injury claim stemming from carbon monoxide exposure because the pollution exclusion in the insurer’s policy applies only to traditional environmental pollution claims, the insureds contend in an April 12 appellant brief filed in the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
April 12, 2024
Failure To Offer Proof Of Continued Disability Supports Termination, Plan Says

PHILADELPHIA — A disability claimant’s failure to provide proof of a continued disability when her long-term disability (LTD) benefits were terminated supports the reasonableness of the disability plan’s termination of benefits and warrants the reversal of a district court’s judgment in favor of the claimant, the disability plan maintains in its appellant reply brief filed in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
April 11, 2024
HOA Seeks Reconsideration Of Lack Of Standing In Construction Insurance Dispute

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A homeowners’ association asks a federal judge in Florida to reconsider a finding that it lacked standing to seek a declaratory judgment in a construction insurance dispute where an insurer seeks a declaration that it owes no indemnification to a subcontractor that worked on homes operated by the HOA.
April 11, 2024
Farmers To 6th Circuit: Vacate Parts Of Dismissal Ruling In Crop Insurance Case

CINCINNATI — Alleging in their opening brief that a crop insurer and the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. (FCIC) “are squeezing New Heights out of business with their never-ending stalled investigation,” farmers ask the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to vacate parts of a dismissal ruling and remand.
April 09, 2024
Insurer Seeks Rehearing In Dispute Over $1M Settlement Of Canceled Music Festival

NEW ORLEANS — An insurer filed a petition asking the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its reversal of a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in its favor in the insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying $1 million class action settlement arising from its refusal to refund ticket sales for the South by Southwest festival that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, challenging the panel’s finding that the policy’s contract and professional services exclusions do not bar coverage.
April 08, 2024
Primary, Excess Insurer Says Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Silica Lawsuits

MINNEAPOLIS — No coverage is owed to an insured manufacturer of quartz surface slabs for underlying bodily injury lawsuits arising out of exposure to silica dust while working with the quartz slabs because coverage is barred by the pollution exclusion, a primary and excess insurer says in a complaint filed in Minnesota federal court.