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

Mealey's Emerging Insurance Disputes

May 14, 2025
California Panel Reverses, Remands Ruling On Insurer’s Fraudulent Concealment Claim

LOS ANGELES — A California appeals court panel reversed a lower court’s ruling as to a plaintiff insurer’s fraudulent concealment claim against a defendant insurer in a coverage dispute over underlying claims that their mutual insured manufactured defective air respirators and masks that did not protect against inhaling silica, asbestos and mixed dust, remanding for a new trial on the fraudulent concealment claim.
May 14, 2025
Nonprofit Firm Files Amicus Brief In High Court In Underwriting Association Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nonprofit, public interest law firm the New England Legal Foundation (NELF) filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the state-created Pennsylvania Professional Liability Joint Underwriting Association (JUA), which provides coverage to health care providers, including those previously insured by insurers in liquidation, and is seeking review of a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling holding that the JUA did not have constitutional rights to challenge the constitutionality of Pennsylvania laws due to JUA’s nature as a public entity instead of a private one.
May 13, 2025
Michigan Majority Reverses No Coverage Ruling In Suit Arising From Shooting Injury

DETROIT — A majority of the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s grant of summary disposition in favor of a homeowners insurer in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying negligence lawsuit arising from a shooting injury, holding that the lower court erred in determining that the underlying injury does not amount to an occurrence to trigger coverage under the policy.
May 13, 2025
Evenflo Seeks Rehearing Of 6th Circuit’s Ruling In Product Liability Coverage Suit

CINCINNATI — The same day the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a joint motion to redact portions of an April 25 opinion in a coverage dispute over product liability settlements, the insured filed a petition for rehearing under seal challenging the lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the insurer.
May 13, 2025
Insurer Appeals Dismissal Of Subrogation Claims In Suit Over Ransomware Attack

WILMINGTON, Del. — An insurer filed a notice indicating it is appealing a Delaware judge’s grant of an application service provider’s motion to dismiss with prejudice its amended complaint, challenging the judge’s finding that it failed to properly assert subrogation claims seeking recovery from the provider for the amount paid to nonprofit insureds for investigative and remediation steps arising from a ransomware attack.
May 13, 2025
Bad Faith, Breach Of Contract Claims Permitted Against Excess Insurers, Judge Says

SAN FRANCISCO — An insured seeking coverage for the seizure of its crude oil tanker by Iranian military forces is permitted to amend and supplement a counterclaim against its excess insurers to assert claims for breach of contract and bad faith because good cause for the amendment exists based on the excess insurers’ belated production of discovery documents, a California federal judge said in granting the insured’s motion to amend and supplement its counterclaim.
May 13, 2025
Judge: Reinsurance Info Is Relevant In Cyberattack Coverage Lawsuit

BALTIMORE — A media company that sued excess insurers it alleges owe millions in connection with an October 2021 cyberattack has obtained a mixed ruling on discovery disputes, with a Maryland federal magistrate judge concluding in part that “reinsurance policies, as well as related documents and communications, are relevant to [the plaintiff’s] bad faith claim and should be produced.”
May 12, 2025
9th Circuit Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Suit Prompted By SEC Investigation

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 9 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of an insurer in an insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its underlying expenses arising from a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation, finding the insured failed to produce evidence that the SEC's investigation and the insured’s ensuing litigation costs “grew out of, flowed from, or bore any causal relationship to the SEC's notice of its intent to depose” one of the insured’s directors.
May 12, 2025
Pennsylvania Court Affirms No Coverage Ruling In Suit Arising From Coronavirus

PHILADELPHIA — The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed a lower court’s ruling in favor of commercial property insurers in a coverage dispute arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, concluding that the insured failed to establish that it incurred “direct physical loss or damage to any of its properties” to trigger coverage.
May 09, 2025
Employers Liability Exclusion Bars Coverage For Contractor, N.C. Panel Affirms

RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina appeals panel held that a general liability insurance policy’s employers liability exclusion precludes coverage for an estate’s underlying lawsuit brought against a contractor insured, affirming a lower court’s rulings in the insurer’s declaratory judgment lawsuit arising from a fatal fall.
May 09, 2025
No Coverage Owed Under Charterer Legal Liability Policy, Majority Affirms

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals majority affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a charterer legal liability insurer in a coverage dispute arising from a deckhand’s injury, finding that the policy was not triggered because the insured is liable for causing injuries to the seaman by breaching its duties as the owner of a natural gas extraction platform and not for breach of its duties as a charterer.
May 09, 2025
Justice Refuses To Dismiss Archdiocese’s Claims In Sexual Abuse Coverage Dispute

NEW YORK — A New York justice denied general and excess liability insurers’ motion to dismiss the Archdiocese of New York’s claims for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing and violations of New York General Business Law Section 348 in a coverage dispute arising from close to 1,700 underlying sexual abuse lawsuits, rejecting the insurers’ contention that the breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing claim is duplicative of the breach of contract claim.
May 08, 2025
Texas Panel Affirms Rulings In Insurer’s Favor In Coverage Suit Over Fatal Shooting

TYLER, Texas — A Texas appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s grant of a homeowners insurer’s motion for partial summary judgment in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying wrongful death action, further affirming the lower court’s denial of the defendants’ motion to dismiss the insurer’s lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction.
May 07, 2025
3rd Circuit Denies Bank’s Petition For Rehearing In Coverage Dispute

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 6 denied a bank’s petition seeking rehearing of the panel’s earlier holding that a management liability insurance policy’s “Changes in Exposure” provision unambiguously bars coverage for an underlying breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit, standing by its affirmation of a lower court’s judgment in favor of insurers in the bank’s lawsuit seeking coverage after it became liable for an underlying judgment for the wrongful acts of an acquired company.
May 06, 2025
Panel: Intentional Acts, Criminal Acts Exclusions Bar Coverage For Shooting Death

ATHENS, Ohio — An Ohio appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s grant of a homeowners insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings after it intervened in a wrongful death lawsuit, finding that the policy’s intentional acts and criminal acts exclusions barred coverage.
May 06, 2025
10th Circuit Affirms Ruling In Favor Of Excess Insurer In $40M Coverage Dispute

DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an excess liability insurer in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing $40 million in coverage for underlying claims arising from its hospital insured’s inadequate surgical-sterilization procedures, concluding that the insurance policy’s definition of “medical incident” unambiguously applies to the injuries of one person and that the insurer does not owe coverage for multiple patients’ claims grouped together.
May 06, 2025
Judge Rules On Dismissal Motions In Coverage Suit Over Unlawful Recording Claims

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California granted in part and denied in part defendant insurers’ motions to dismiss a cyber liability insurer’s lawsuit seeking equitable contribution and indemnification for an underlying lawsuit alleging their mutual insured intentionally failed to disclose that hidden cameras were installed in operating rooms and recorded patient procedures in an effort to investigate drug theft.
May 05, 2025
7th Circuit Vacates, Remands Ruling In Coverage Dispute Over BIPA Violations

CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 2 vacated and remanded a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of a commercial liability insurer in its lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying putative class action alleging that a food ingredient manufacturer insured violated the Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), finding that the statutory violation policy exclusion does not preclude coverage.
May 05, 2025
Insurer Seeks 11th Circuit Review Of Lawyers’ Professional Liability Coverage Suit

ATLANTA —A professional liability insurer asked the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a lower federal court’s dismissal of its lawsuit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify an attorney and law firm against an underlying legal malpractice lawsuit, arguing that “oral argument would materially assist” the 11th Circuit “in understanding the proper application of the misappropriation exclusion” in its policy.
May 02, 2025
Wyoming High Court Answers Certified Question In Insurer’s Suit Against Engineer

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Supreme Court on May 1 answered a certified question from the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a subrogated homeowners insurer’s appeal of a Wyoming federal court’s ruling that its claim against an engineering firm that designed a home’s plumbing is time-barred by the two-year statute of limitations for professional negligence claims, finding that under Wyoming Statutes Annotated Section 1-3-107, the absence of contractual privity is not relevant in deciding when the statute of limitation attaches in a tort action and the statute of limitation attaches to the design that was the legal cause of the purported injuries.
May 02, 2025
Roofing Contractor’s Insurer Wins Judgment; Policy’s Prior Works Exclusion Applies

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal court issued a final judgment in favor of an insurer in its suit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify its roofing contractor insured in an underlying lawsuit alleging that the insured’s negligent repair work contributed to the collapse of a building façade, killing two people; the judgment was issued two weeks after a judge ruled that the policy’s Prior Works Exclusion applies because the repair work at issue was completed before the policy’s coverage became effective.
April 30, 2025
Residents Sue State-Mandated Insurer ‘Of Last Resort’ Over Los Angeles Wildfires

LOS ANGELES — California residents sued the California Fair Plan Association (CFPA) and its largest members in a state court seeking damages for the defendants’ alleged bad faith breach of their property insurance policies following the Los Angeles wildfires in January.
April 30, 2025
Assignee Seeks To Appeal Suit Against Insurance Agency To Pennsylvania High Court

PHILADELPHIA — An insured’s assignee filed a petition in a Pennsylvania court asking for allowance to appeal the court’s ruling that affirmed a lower court’s grant of an insurance agency’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in its breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying wrongful death settlement, challenging the court’s finding that the suit is barred by the statute of limitations.
April 29, 2025
Alaska Federal Judge Grants Insurer’s Motion To Dismiss COVID-19 Coverage Suit

ANCHORAGE, Ala. — Following the Alaska Supreme Court’s answers to two certified questions in a coronavirus coverage dispute, a federal judge in Alaska on April 28 entered judgment in favor of an insurer after granting its motion to dismiss an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for loss of business income under the Communicable Disease Suspension of Operations provision in the insurance policy.
April 28, 2025
Judge Dismisses Coverage Suit Over Claims Insured Misrepresented Cannabis Products

ROCKFORD, Ill. —The same day a commercial general liability insurer filed a notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice, an Illinois federal judge dismissed the insurer’s lawsuit seeking a declaration that it had no duty to defend or indemnify in an underlying putative class lawsuit alleging that its insureds knowingly or recklessly misrepresented and advertised their products as cannabis concentrates and misclassified the products to avoid regulations.