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

Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

June 26, 2023
Contractor Challenges Ruling That Exclusion Bars Coverage For Faulty Installation

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A contractor moved for a Florida federal court to reconsider its Feb. 27 ruling that a commercial general liability insurer is entitled to summary judgment on its declaratory judgment claims in a lawsuit stemming from a subcontractor’s alleged faulty installation of cladding and glazing systems in a construction project, challenging the court’s ruling that the policy’s “course-of-construction” exclusion bars coverage.
June 26, 2023
Freddie Mac Sues Insurers, Seeking D&O Coverage For Costs Incurred By SEC Subpoenas

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac), sued its primary and excess directors and officers liability insurers for breach of contract and bad faith in a District of Columbia federal court, seeking coverage for underlying expenses that it incurred on behalf of its directors, officers and employees who were subpoenaed by the Securities Exchange Commission during an investigation and subsequent lawsuit.
June 23, 2023
CGL Insurer Responds To Homeowners’ Petition Seeking Oregon High Court Review

SALEM, Ore. — A commercial general liability insurer responded to homeowners’ petition asking the Oregon Supreme Court to review an appeals court’s ruling that the insurer has no duty to indemnify either the homeowners or its contractor insured for a coverage dispute over faulty work performed in building a home, challenging the homeowners’ contention that the appeals court “erroneously read” Oak Crest Construction Co. v. Austin Mutual Insurance Co. “to require tort liability to find an ‘occurrence’ or ‘accident’” under the policy.
June 23, 2023
Insured Seeks Coverage For $14M In Losses Resulting From ‘COVID-19 Manifestations’

NEW YORK — The holding company for the U.S. interests of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group sued its “all risk” commercial insurers in a New York federal court, arguing that the “Special Perils Provision” in an endorsement of the policies provided coverage for its $14 million in business interruption/interference losses caused by infectious or contagious diseases that were “manifested by any person within a 5-mile radius of” its four hotels in Boston, New York, Miami and Washington, D.C.
June 23, 2023
Court Erred In Compelling Arbitration Of $7M Hurricane Ida Suit, 5th Circuit Told

NEW ORLEANS — An insured tells the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in its appellant brief that a Louisiana federal court erred by compelling arbitration of a dispute over its claims for $7 million in damages caused by Hurricane Ida and for bad faith against its foreign and domestic insurers, arguing that its domestic insurers cannot circumvent an anti-arbitration clause under Louisiana law.
June 22, 2023
Wisconsin Majority Affirms Coverage Ruling In Dispute Over Pool Construction

MADISON, Wis. —A majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed an appellate panel’s reversal of a trial court’s ruling that there was no insurance coverage as a matter of law for a pool contractor or the company that supplied the shotcrete for a project that was allegedly riddled with leaks, finding that a trier of fact could determine that the water leakage and consequent cracks in the inground pool, as well as the damage to the surrounding soil, constituted property damage that was caused by an occurrence.
June 19, 2023
Professors Call For Review Of Insurer Standing Ruling In Asbestos Bankruptcy Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A request for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the primary insurer for asbestos debtors Kaiser Gypsum Co. Inc. and Hanson Permanente Cement Inc. has standing to challenge the debtors’ reorganization plan should be granted “to resolve an entrenched circuit split and restore uniformity to bankruptcy proceedings,” eight law professors say in an amicus curiae brief in support of the insurer.
June 16, 2023
Property Insurer Says Insured Refused To Cooperate With Policy Conditions As Required

PHOENIX — A commercial property insurer contends in a motion for summary judgment filed in Arizona federal court that its insured’s claims for breach of contract and bad faith cannot proceed because the insured breached the policy by failing to cooperate with the insurer’s investigation of the insured’s vandalism and theft claim.
June 15, 2023
Trial Set In Suit Seeking Nonpublic Info On Holding Company’s Captive Reinsurer

WILMINGTON, Del. — A one-day trial in the Delaware Court of Chancery has been set for June 26 in a suit seeking nonpublic information regarding a captive reinsurer, with the parties filing a joint pretrial stipulation and the plaintiff filing a pretrial brief.
June 15, 2023
Third-Party Complaint Is Filed In Suit Involving Reinsurance Commutation

JACKSON, Miss. — Defendants in a lawsuit involving what the plaintiff alleges was “a corporate insurance and risk management program promoted, created, and put in place by Defendants for Domino’s Pizza franchisees” have filed a third-party complaint against Domino’s Pizza LLC and related entities in a Mississippi federal court.
June 14, 2023
Parties Debate Exclusions In D.C. Circuit Appeal Over Condensation Damage Coverage

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A real estate developer and contractor seeking reversal of summary judgment granted to their builders risk insurers in a dispute over coverage for remediation of condensation damage tell the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the insurers’ arguments in opposition were rejected in Blaine Construction Corp. v. Insurance Company of North America and that the evidence of causation provided should have been dispositive under the language of the policies.
June 14, 2023
Vizio Tells 9th Circuit Its 4th Amended Complaint Is ‘More Than Sufficient’

SAN FRANCISCO — Responding to an insurer’s contention that its appeal “merely regurgitates the same failed arguments,” Vizio Inc. tells the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the allegations in its fourth amended complaint are “more than sufficient” to permit it to proceed past the pleading stage in its lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying $17 million settlement and defense costs arising from class claims alleging unauthorized collections of consumers’ television viewing data.
June 13, 2023
Relators Raise SuperValu In 8th Circuit Appeal Of Qui Tam Crop Insurance Row

ST. LOUIS — Relators who are asking the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse vacation of judgment in a qui tam crop insurance case now contend that a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision “makes it clear” that a Minnesota federal court’s interpretation of “knowingly” “is not the correct legal standard.”
June 13, 2023
Amici Argue In Favor Of Insurer In High Court Appeal Of Marine Coverage Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Four amici curiae, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, filed briefs in support of a maritime insurer’s petition for writ of certiorari that the high court limited to the question: “Under federal admiralty law, can a choice of law clause in a maritime contract be rendered unenforceable if enforcement is contrary to the ‘strong public policy’ of the state whose law is displaced?”
June 13, 2023
Bifurcated Settlement Proposed For 1 Defendant In SEC Suit Over Alleged Fraud

DURHAM, N.C. — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 12 asked a North Carolina federal court to approve a bifurcated settlement it negotiated with one of three defendants in a civil suit over a former investment advisory firm’s alleged “series of fraudulent and improper schemes” that defrauded clients of more than $75 million.
June 13, 2023
Partial Production Of Arbitration Record Compelled In Suit Over Defense Costs

DETROIT — With a motion for declaratory judgment pending in a suit over defense costs, a Michigan federal judge has granted a reinsurer’s motion to compel partial, redacted production of a separate arbitration record.
June 12, 2023
Umbrella Insurer Says Only 1 $5M Limit Applies To 3-Year Policy

DETROIT — An umbrella insurer contends in a response to its insured’s cross-motion for summary judgment filed in Michigan federal court that its three-year policy includes only one $5 million limit for underlying environmental contamination suits filed against the insured and not separate $5 million limits for each year of the policy.
June 12, 2023
Insurers Seek Dismissal Of Appeal Over Partial Stay Of Adversary Proceeding

NEW YORK — Arguing lack of subject matter jurisdiction, appellees asked a New York federal court to dismiss an appeal seeking to overturn a New York federal bankruptcy judge’s order partially staying an adversary proceeding filed by the joint provisional liquidators (JPLs) of Bermuda insurer and reinsurer PB Life and Annuity Co. Ltd. (PBLA) and other debtors.
June 12, 2023
Parties In Reinsurance Dispute File Briefs On Ultimate Net Loss Provision

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Parties in a complex breach of contract suit over reinsurance billings filed new briefs on June 9 addressing just one claim at the direction of the Alabama federal court; specifically, they dispute the interpretation of a contract provision regarding ultimate net loss and whether it applies to $385,546.03 the insurer incurred in a suit against its errors and omissions (E&O) carrier.
June 08, 2023
Appellants Dismiss Sleep Injury Coverage Dispute After Settlement Reached

ATLANTA — Appellants on June 7 filed an agreed motion to dismiss in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after the parties reached a settlement of a coverage dispute over an underlying professional negligence lawsuit arising from an injury that allegedly occurred following a sleep study.
June 08, 2023
Architect Fails To Assert Property Damage Caused By Occurrence, Insurer Counters

CHICAGO — Responding to an architectural company insured’s appeal in a coverage dispute over claims of “defective, incomplete and architectural problems” with an Iowa building for which it was hired to provide architectural services, a commercial general liability insurer asserts that the insured “seeks to avoid the weight of decades of state and federal case law applying Illinois law to construction defect coverage disputes.”
June 08, 2023
Condo Developer Urges Court To Deny JMOL Or New Trial In Slab Coverage Suit

DENVER — The developer of a condominium project “presented sufficient evidence” to support a jury’s $2.54 million damages after its builders risk insurer denied coverage for a cracked concrete slab, and although the verdict “may not have been perfect, there was no irreconcilable inconsistency that justifies a new trial,” the developer tells a federal court in Colorado in responses to the insurer’s motions for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) and a new trial.
June 06, 2023
Former NFL Player Alleges NFL Disability Plan Breached Fiduciary Duty

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A former National Football League player alleges in a complaint filed in Florida federal court that the NFL’s disability plan breached its fiduciary duty by failing to consider the former player’s claim for total and permanent disability benefits and by concealing that the player was eligible for the benefits when he submitted an application for disability benefits in 2006.
June 06, 2023
STD Benefits Owed Under Company’s Self-Funded Plan, Disability Claimant Says

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The denial of a claim for short-term disability (STD) benefits under an employer’s self-funded disability plan was an abuse of discretion, a disability claimant says in a complaint filed in North Carolina federal court seeking a finding that benefits are owed.
June 06, 2023
Disability Claimant Alleges STD Benefits Were Wrongfully Terminated By Plan Insurer

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A disability claimant filed suit in Ohio federal court against his former employer, a disability plan and the plan’s insurer, asking the court to find that the insurer wrongfully terminated his short-term disability (STD) benefits and that he continues to be entitled to STD benefits and long-term disability (LTD) benefits.