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

Mealey's Emerging Insurance Disputes

February 28, 2025
Insurer: No Coverage Owed For Suit Arising From Blockade In Support of Palestine

NEW YORK — A commercial general liability and directors and officers liability insurer filed a lawsuit in a New York federal court seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify against an underlying lawsuit alleging that its insured was instrumental in coordinating an April 15 blockade as part of an international campaign to disrupt the off-ramp leading into Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport in support of the liberation of Palestine.
February 28, 2025
Trustees Have No Standing To Sue D&O Liability Insurer, 4th Circuit Affirms

RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals determined that neither the trustee of a bankrupt company nor a personal bankruptcy trustee has standing to sue the company’s directors and officers liability insurer, affirming a lower federal court’s ruling that agreed with a bankruptcy court’s dismissal of an adversary proceeding brought against the insurer.
February 27, 2025
Petitioners In Baltimore Bridge Collapse Suit Ordered To Be Deposed In U.S.

BALTIMORE — A federal chief magistrate judge in Maryland on Feb. 26 granted claimants’ motion to compel petitioners and their management agents and employees to submit to depositions in a Maryland federal court in an exoneration lawsuit brought by the owner and technical manager of the ship that allided with and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
February 27, 2025
Judge Enters Judgment In Coverage Suit Over Sexual Abuse Claims Against Coach

TACOMA, Wash. — A federal judge in Washington entered final judgment in favor of a homeowners insurer after finding that it has no duty to defend or indemnify its coach insured for underlying sexual abuse lawsuits.
February 26, 2025
Judge Dismisses Hospital’s $2.5M D&O Coverage Suit Over DOJ, AG Investigations

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss a hospital insured’s breach of contract lawsuit, finding that the insurer’s liability is capped by the Regulatory Claim Endorsement’s $1 million sublimit and that the hospital failed to allege that the insurer breached its duty to pay for its $2.5 million in remaining defense expenses arising from underlying criminal federal and state investigations into the hospital’s employees and officers.
February 26, 2025
Georgia Panel Reverses Ruling In Surety Bond Dispute Over Employee Embezzlement

ATLANTA — A Georgia appeals court concluded that a county’s claims for payment under two public official bonds were barred by a three-year statute of limitations, reversing a lower court’s ruling against a surety in the county’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit demanding coverage for its losses arising from employee embezzlement.
February 25, 2025
Knowledge-Of-Falsity Policy Exclusion Bars Coverage, 10th Circuit Affirms

DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 24 affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment in favor of primary and excess commercial general liability insurers in their lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying slander of title action brought against their insured, finding that the policies’ knowledge-of-falsity exclusions preclude coverage.
February 25, 2025
Florida Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Coronavirus Coverage Suit

MIAMI — A Florida appeals panel on Feb. 19 affirmed a lower court’s judgment in favor of an insurer in an insured’s declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking coverage for its business interruption losses as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, concluding that nothing in the record supports the insured’s contention that the governmental shutdown orders “were issued ‘due to’ specific conditions at the premises of the Insured.”
February 25, 2025
N.J. High Court Agrees To Review Pharmaceutical Company’s D&O Coverage Suit

TRENTON, N.J. — The New Jersey Supreme Court granted a pharmaceutical company insured’s petition for certification seeking high court review of an appeals court’s reversal of a lower court’s rulings in its favor in its declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking directors and officers liability coverage for an underlying lawsuit.
February 24, 2025
Insurers Ask Supreme Court To Decide Whether Tribal Court Can Exercise Jurisdiction

WASHINGTON, D.C. — After the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied insurers’ petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc asking it to reconsider its 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, the insurers filed a petition for writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to determine “whether a tribal court can exercise jurisdiction over nonmembers of the tribe based on off-reservation conduct.”
February 24, 2025
Judge Rules On Insurers’ Dismissal Motions In Coverage Suit Over Sexual Abuse Claims

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware judge granted two commercial general liability insurers’ motions to dismiss an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for underlying sexual abuse claims brought by minors who participated in competitive cheerleading after finding that the exercise of personal jurisdiction over these two insurers would offend due process but denied all other motions to dismiss brought by the remaining insurers.
February 20, 2025
N.Y. Appeals Court: Coverage Owed For Insured’s Loss Of 502,315 Soybean Bushels

NEW YORK — A New York appeals court affirmed a lower court’s grant of a physical commodities trader insured’s motion for partial summary judgment on declaratory judgment and breach of contract counterclaims against its insurers in their lawsuit disputing coverage for the insured’s loss of 502,315 bushels of soybeans, agreeing with the lower court that the insured established an actual loss under the policies.
February 19, 2025
Judge Partly Rejects Magistrate’s Report In Coverage Suit Over Retaliation Claims

MIAMI — A federal judge in Florida affirmed in part and rejected in part a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation in a coverage dispute over retaliation claims against Miami and its employees, denying the city’s motion to dismiss the insurer’s declaratory judgment lawsuit, granting the insurer’s motion to stay proceedings as to the unripe duty-to-indemnify claims and quashing discovery requests.
February 19, 2025
Media Tech Insurer, Financial Services Firm Settle Data Breach Coverage Dispute

SEATTLE — A media tech insurer that filed suit and its financial services firm insured filed a notice in a Washington federal court indicating they have settled the insurer’s lawsuit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify the insured for a bank’s indemnification demand for a data breach incident and a related subrogation lawsuit brought by the bank’s insurer.
February 18, 2025
Excess Insurer Appeals Ruling In BIPA Violation Coverage Dispute

CHICAGO — An excess insurer filed a notice indicating that it is appealing an Illinois federal court’s ruling granting in part and denying in part cross-motions for summary judgment in a franchisee of the Burger King chain’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking a declaration that the insurer has a duty to defend against an underlying putative class lawsuit alleging that the insured violated the Illinois Biometric Information Protection Act (BIPA).
February 18, 2025
Class Action Alleges Allstate Collected, Sold Data Without Plaintiffs’ Consent

CHICAGO — A class action complaint filed in Illinois federal court alleges that The Allstate Corp. and its subsidiaries collected and sold the plaintiffs’ personal data and “‘trillions of miles’ worth of ‘driving behavior’” data without their consent.
February 13, 2025
COMMENTARY: The Top Twelve Insurance Coverage Decisions Of 2024

By Robert D. Chesler, Seán McCabe, Madilynne Lee and James A. Goodridge
February 14, 2025
Insurer’s Dismissal Motion Partially Denied In Suit Alleging It Illegally Employs AI

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal magistrate judge in Minnesota on Feb. 13 granted in part and denied in part an insurer’s motion to dismiss a class complaint alleging it illegally uses artificial intelligence (AI) to deny elderly insureds medically necessary care based on a model that the insurer knows “has a 90% error rate,” allowing breach of contract and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing claims to proceed.
February 14, 2025
Panel: No Coverage For Unfair Competition Suit Against Furniture Delivery Company

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals determined that an insurer has no duty to defend its furniture delivery company insured against an underlying misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition lawsuit brought by a competitor, affirming a lower federal court’s grant of the insurer’s motion for summary judgment in the insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit.
February 13, 2025
Triable Issues Exist As To Whether Insurer Paid Attorney Fees As Part Of Settlement

LOS ANGELES — A California appeals panel held that there are triable issues regarding whether a plaintiff insurer paid any of tenants’ attorney fees as part of the settlement of an underlying lawsuit alleging substandard conditions at the insured’s 28-unit apartment building, reversing the lower court’s judgment as to the summary adjudication of the plaintiff insurer’s claims for declaratory relief and reimbursement of alleged attorney fees that it paid in the underlying settlement, vacating the award and affirming the judgment in all other respects.
February 12, 2025
Intentional Acts Exclusion Bars Coverage For Injury Suit, Michigan Panel Affirms

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Michigan appeals court affirmed a lower court’s ruling that a homeowners insurance policy’s intentional acts exclusion bars coverage for an underlying personal injury lawsuit, finding that the policy exclusion is not ambiguous.
February 12, 2025
No Coverage Owed For Mother’s Suit Arising From Son’s Murder, Panel Affirms

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 11 affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of insurers in their insureds’ breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for a mother’s intentional infliction of emotional distress action arising from her son’s murder, finding that there was no coverage because the underlying claims did not result from an accident.
February 12, 2025
Diocese Of Trenton Seeks Coverage For ‘Onslaught’ Of Child Sexual Abuse Claims

TRENTON, N.J. — The Diocese of Trenton filed a declaratory judgment and breach of contract lawsuit in a New Jersey federal court seeking coverage for hundreds of underlying claims brought
February 11, 2025
Hawaii High Court Answers Questions On Subrogation Issues For Wildfire Settlement

HONOLULU — The Hawaii Supreme Court on Feb. 10 answered three reserved questions on how the subrogation rights of property and casualty insurance carriers bear on a proposed global settlement of claims related to the August 2023 Maui wildfires, remanding the case to the Second Circuit Court of Hawaii.
February 11, 2025
Insurer Says No Coverage Due For Underlying Toxic Exposure Suit

LOS ANGELES — A commercial general liability insurer filed suit in California federal court, seeking a declaration that no coverage is owed for an underlying suit alleging that exposure to the insured’s hair styling straightening products caused individuals to be diagnosed with cancer and leukemia because the insured failed to provide timely notice of the suit and had knowledge before the issuance of the policy that its products were unsafe.