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

Mealey's Emerging Insurance Disputes

December 16, 2024
N.C. High Court Rules COVID-19 Lockdowns Caused Restaurants’ Direct Physical Loss

RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Supreme Court on Dec. 13 reversed the judgment of a state appellate court that had reversed a trial court’s grant of partial summary judgment in favor of restaurant insureds in a COVID-19 coverage dispute, concluding that the restaurants’ insurance policies did not “unambiguously bar coverage when government orders and threatened viral contamination deprived the policyholder restaurants of their ability to physically use and physically operate property at their insured business premises.”
December 13, 2024
Hawaii Supreme Court Considers Subrogation Issues For Wildfire Settlement

HONOLULU — 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 is the focus of three reserved questions the Hawaii Supreme Court is considering, with some recent filings involving how reinsurance could be affected.
December 13, 2024
3rd Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Coverage Dispute Arising From Construction Accident

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of a commercial general liability insurer’s motion to dismiss a coverage lawsuit arising from a construction accident, agreeing with the lower court that the insurer had no duty to defend a building owner because it was not an “additional insured” under the CGL policy’s additional insured endorsement.
December 11, 2024
COMMENTARY: Insurance In The Limelight: Unique Insurance Coverage Considerations For Media Platforms Airing Documentaries And Related Original Content

By Meredith Elkins, Shafkat Rakib and Justin Javier
December 13, 2024
Justice: Subcontractor’s Insurer Has No Duty To Defend Against Personal Injury Suit

NEW YORK — A New York justice held that a subcontractor’s insurer has no duty to defend a general contractor against an underlying personal injury lawsuit that occurred at a construction site, finding that the underlying lawsuit does not allege facts implicating the subcontractor at all.
December 12, 2024
Real Estate Law Firm, Cyber Security Insurer Settle Coverage Dispute

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A real estate law firm, its insurer and a third-party administrator filed a joint stipulation asking a North Carolina federal court to dismiss with prejudice the firm’s lawsuit seeking coverage under a cybersecurity policy for gross negligence and obstruction of justice cross-claims arising from a “cyber incident” in 2021 that resulted in the misdirection of funds.
December 12, 2024
Judge: Assignee Lacks Standing To Recover Emotional Distress Damages From Insurer

CHICAGO — A California federal judge held that an assignee cannot establish standing under California Insurance Code Section 11580(b)(2) to recover her emotional distress damages from an insurer as judgment creditor of her former employer, granting the insurer’s motion to dismiss her lawsuit arising from an underlying discrimination judgment in her favor but allowing the assignee leave to amend one of her claims.
December 12, 2024
Stipulation Of Dismissal Filed In D&O Insurance Coverage Dispute With Receiver

OKLAHOMA CITY — A receiver for an insurer in liquidation filed in an Oklahoma federal court a stipulation of dismissal in his declaratory judgment suit against a D&O insurer that insured the parent company of the insurer in liquidation.
December 11, 2024
2nd Circuit Sets Argument In Reinsurers’ Post-Trial Appeal Of Oil Seizure Row

NEW YORK — Oral argument has been calendared for Jan. 24 in a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals case filed by reinsurers that were ordered to pay CITGO Petroleum Corp. more than $72.5 million in a suit stemming from the February 2020 seizure of crude oil at a Venezuelan port and involving a marine cargo reinsurance policy and what constitutes an “insurrection.”
December 11, 2024
No Coverage Owed For Regal Cinemas’ Coronavirus Losses, 9th Circuit Affirms

PASADENA, Calif.— The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of insurers in Regal Cinemas’ breach of contract lawsuit seeking recovery for its revenue losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that, pursuant to New York law, Regal Cinemas was not insured for its alleged business losses.
December 10, 2024
Panel: Reservation Court Has Jurisdiction In Tribe’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a tribal court has subject matter jurisdiction over an insurance company in a dispute over the tribe’s claims for business interruption losses at its casino caused by the coronavirus pandemic, affirming a lower federal court on the alterative ground that the insurance policy at issue satisfies Montana’s consensual-relationship exception.
December 10, 2024
No D&O Coverage Owed For Fraudulent Billing Suit, Illinois Panel Affirms

CHICAGO — An Illinois appeals panel determined Dec. 9 that a directors and officers liability insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify its insureds against an underlying fraudulent billing lawsuit because coverage is barred by the policy’s interrelated wrongful acts exclusion, affirming a lower court’s judgment in favor of the insurer.
December 10, 2024
Coverage Owed For Lead, Cadmium Exposure Suit, 3rd Circuit Affirms

PHILADELPHIA — An employers liability insurer has a duty to defend its employer against an underlying suit filed by a former employee and arising out of the former employee’s exposure to lead and cadmium fumes because a potential for coverage exists under the policy as it is not clear that the policy’s intentional injury exclusion bars coverage, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in affirming a district court’s ruling.
December 10, 2024
Insured, 2nd CGL Insurer Seek Dismissal Of Coverage Suit Over BIPA Violation Claim

CHICAGO — An insured and the remaining commercial general liability insurer in its lawsuit seeking a declaration as to coverage for an underlying putative class lawsuit alleging that it violated the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act (BIPA) filed a stipulation asking an Illinois federal court to dismiss with prejudice all claims between them.
December 10, 2024
Retail Furniture Insured Voluntarily Dismisses Coronavirus Coverage Suit

PHILADELPHIA — A retail furniture insured filed a notice in a federal court in Pennsylvania to voluntarily dismiss its lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses stemming from the forced closure of its business in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
December 09, 2024
California Panel: Abuse Or Molestation Exclusion Bars Coverage For Spa Owner

LOS ANGELES — A California appeals panel held that a commercial insurance policy’s “abuse or molestation” exclusion bars coverage for an underlying lawsuit alleging that a spa owner insured sexually assaulted and molested three of its customers during massage sessions, affirming a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the insurer in the insured’s breach of contract lawsuit.
December 09, 2024
Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In Convention Center’s Suit Arising From Pandemic

SEATTLE — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a federal court’s ruling that granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss an insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its business interruption losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that the insured fails to show that coverage exists for its losses under the policy’s Civil or Military Authority provision and further concluding that the policy's contamination exclusion precludes coverage.
December 06, 2024
10th Circuit Issues Reversal Of Judgment For Liability Insurer In Coverage Row

DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a district court’s judgment for a liability insurer in a dispute between it and a health insurer regarding coverage to 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.
December 05, 2024
Panel: Insurer Has No Duty To Defend, Indemnify City For Wrongful Death Suit

ATLANTA —The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 4 held that a general liability insurance policy unambiguously relieves the insurer of its duty to defend or indemnify its insured for an underlying wrongful death lawsuit, affirming a lower federal court’s dismissal of a direct action brought against the insurer by the daughter of a man who died in a holding cell at a Georgia jail.
December 04, 2024
Policy Exclusion Bars Coverage For BIPA Suit, Illinois Panel Rules In Reversal

CHICAGO — An Illinois appeals panel held that insurers have no duty to defend their insured against an underlying class action lawsuit alleging that the insured violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) because the policies’ “Recording and Distribution” exclusion barred coverage, reversing a lower court’s judgment in favor of the insured and remanding.
December 04, 2024
Delaware High Court Accepts Interlocutory Appeal In Earplug Liability Coverage Suit

WILMINGTON, Del. — The Delaware Supreme Court accepted plaintiffs’ application for certification of interlocutory appeal of a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of liability insurers in a coverage lawsuit arising from an underlying earplug product liability multidistrict litigation that resulted in a $6 billion settlement and millions of dollars of defense costs.
December 03, 2024
Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Amber Heard’s Counterclaims In Defamation Coverage Suit

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal of Amber Heard’s breach of contract and bad faith counterclaims in the insurer’s declaratory judgment lawsuit alleging that it has no duty to defend or indemnify her for a defamation judgment awarded to Johnny Depp.
December 03, 2024
Restaurant, Insurer Seek Dismissal Of Suit Over Looting Damage After Hurricane Maria

ST. CROIX, Virgin Islands — A restaurant insured and its insurer filed a stipulation in federal court in the Virgin Islands seeking dismissal with prejudice of all claims and counterclaims in their dispute over the insurer’s adjustment of the insured’s property damage claim and business interruption losses arising from looting after Hurricane Maria.
December 03, 2024
Judge Rules On Cross-Motions For Summary Judgment In BIPA Violation Coverage Suit

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois granted in part and denied in part cross-motions for summary judgment filed by an excess insurer and a franchisee of the Burger King chain in its breach of contract lawsuit seeking a declaration that the insurer has a duty to defend it against an underlying putative class lawsuit alleging that it violated the Illinois Biometric Information Protection Act (BIPA).
December 03, 2024
Following John’s Grill, Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In COVID-19 Suit

SAN DIEGO — Reconsidering its earlier holding in favor of a diner insured in light of John's Grill, Inc. v. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., a California appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s judgment in favor of an insurer in the diner’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its business losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.