Judge:  Insurer Had No Duty To Defend Under Policy’s Sexual Assault Exception

Mealey's (March 3, 2020, 1:29 PM EST) -- SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington on Feb. 28 ruled in an insurance breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit that a homeowners insurance provider had no duty to defend its insured in an underlying civil action arising out of a sexual molestation that occurred at the insured’s home because the insured’s negligence in not preventing the molestation barred coverage under the policy’s sexual assault exclusion (Michele Ostwald v. The Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest, No. 19-685, W.D. Wash., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34827)....