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Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

  • November 14, 2025

    Parties File 9th Circuit Briefs In LTD Denial Appeal Involving Long COVID

    SAN FRANCISCO — Issues including assessing differing medical opinions and whether new reasons for denial of long-term disability (LTD) benefits were improperly raised during a bench trial are disputed in Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals briefs in the case of a former underwriter who says he was disabled by cognitive impairments and other symptoms he attributes to long COVID.

  • November 13, 2025

    Insurer Urges 9th Circuit To Vacate Amended Judgment In Damages Coverage Row

    SAN FRANCISCO — In its opening appellant brief, a general contractor’s insurer argues that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should vacate a lower court’s amended judgment in favor of a subcontractor’s commercial general liability insurer, stating that the subcontractor’s insurer had a duty to defend the subcontractor in the insurer’s equitable contribution and equitable indemnification suit arising from construction defect-related damages to a hotel that the general contractor and subcontractor were constructing.

  • November 13, 2025

    Appeal Of FCA Suit Against Publix Super Markets For Opioid Prescriptions Dismissed

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ordered the dismissal of an appeal filed by an organization comprising two former Publix Super Markets pharmacists that alleges that the grocery chain violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by filling prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances that it knew were improper after the parties filed a notice of stipulation of dismissal.

  • November 12, 2025

    Insured Dismisses Suit Seeking Defense Costs Arising From Securities Fraud Action

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A corporation insured asked a Delaware federal court to dismiss without prejudice its lawsuit alleging breach of contract and seeking a declaration that a directors and officers liability insurer must promptly reimburse it for the costs it has incurred in defending an underlying securities fraud lawsuit brought by shareholders.

  • November 12, 2025

    Insured Asks Court To Reconsider No Coverage Ruling In Hurricane Ida Suit

    NEW ORLEANS — An insured moved a Louisiana federal court to reconsider its summary judgment ruling in favor of her property insurer in her breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit arising from damage caused by Hurricane Ida, arguing that the inspection reports, expert affidavits and itemized estimates clearly raise factual disputes as to the scope of her damages and the insurer’s bad faith handling.

  • November 12, 2025

    Railway Company, Insurer Dismiss Case Over Coverage Of Underlying Flood Claim

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A railway company and an insurer filed a stipulation to dismiss the insurer’s claim for declaratory relief that it did not have a duty to indemnify the railway company in an underlying complaint against it for negligence after the construction of the railway caused property to flood.

  • November 12, 2025

    Subcontractor, Insurer Settle Dispute Over Defense Of Action Over Microtunneling

    SEATTLE — A subcontractor and its insurer filed a notice of settlement in a case brought by the subcontractor alleging that the insurer failed to defend it against a counterclaim in an underlying suit arising out of the subcontractor’s microtunneling work for a water project in Seattle.

  • November 11, 2025

    Insurer Seeks Reimbursement Of Punitive Damages Award Paid On Behalf Of Insured

    PHILADELPHIA — An insured is required to reimburse its insurer for the insurer’s payment of a punitive damages award entered against the insured in an underlying asbestos bodily injury suit because punitive damages are uninsurable pursuant to the terms of the policy and applicable law, the insurer says in a complaint filed in Pennsylvania federal court.

  • November 07, 2025

    Insured Appeals $348,000 Award In Asbestos Indemnity Coverage Case

    NEW ORLEANS — An insurance company filed a notice indicating that it would appeal a decision finding it liable for the defense of an asbestos suit in a case in which a federal judge in Louisiana awarded $348,000 for breach of contract but finding that its arguments were not frivolous.

  • November 06, 2025

    Insured Says 11th Circuit Panel Overlooked Evidence In Environmental Cleanup Suit

    ATLANTA — An 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel should grant rehearing in a contamination cleanup suit stemming from the release of petroleum and other contaminants from an underground storage tank at a gas station operated by the insured because the panel overlooked evidence showing that the insurer was not prejudiced by the insured’s late notice, the insured says in a Nov. 5 petition for panel rehearing.

  • November 05, 2025

    Subcontractor Argues Court Should Reconsider Dismissal, Allow For Discovery

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A subcontractor argues in its motion for reconsideration of a Kentucky federal judge’s grant of summary judgment on an insurer’s behalf that the court had insufficient grounds for dismissal without additional discovery on its affirmative defenses; the subcontractor seeks reconsideration of the judge’s finding that it was required to release its counterclaim as part of a global settlement regarding the construction of off-campus student housing and the judge’s grant of summary judgment.

  • November 04, 2025

    LTD Insurer To 11th Circuit: Affirm Ruling In Dispute Involving Tax Returns

    ATLANTA — Arguing that the plan terms gave its claims administrator the discretion to determine what constitutes sufficient proof of disability, a long-term disability (LTD) insurer filed a Nov. 3 brief asking the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm summary judgment in its favor in a dispute involving interpretation of the term “work” and reject the claimant’s urging to take the position outlined in a report and recommendation the lower court declined to adopt.

  • November 03, 2025

    Captive Managers Oppose Injunction, Cite Speculative Harm And Insurer Breach

    NEW YORK — An insurance services firm, its captive affiliate and its general counsel say in an opposition memorandum filed in a New York federal court that a motion for a preliminary injunction and expedited discovery filed by four insurers alleging mismanagement of a captive program should be denied, arguing that the claimed harm is speculative and that the insurers themselves breached the reinsurance agreement by over-ceding losses beyond contractual limits.

  • October 30, 2025

    4th Circuit Sets Argument In Long COVID Disability Benefits Case

    RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has scheduled oral argument for Dec. 9 in an appeal of a ruling that a claimant is owed past-due long-term disability (LTD) benefits because long COVID symptoms have disabled her from working as an engineer; a key issue in the case is whether de novo review was proper.

  • October 29, 2025

    Insurer Says Bad Faith Complaint Is Mooted By Arbitration Award Payout

    LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — An insurer claims in an Arkansas federal court that a crop insurance lawsuit filed by two farmers should be dismissed as moot, asserting it already paid the arbitration award the farmers seek to confirm and that any additional claims are barred by the arbitration proceeding; in their complaint, the farmers accuse the insurer of bad faith and breach of contract in connection with the denial of coverage for their weather-related crop losses.

  • October 28, 2025

    Justin Baldoni, Movie Studios Move To Toss Insurer’s Suit In Favor Of Other Forum

    NEW YORK — Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios LLC, It Ends With Us Movie LLC and its movie studio officers have asked a New York federal court to dismiss or stay their management liability insurer’s lawsuit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to provide coverage for Blake Lively’s sexual harassment, hostile work environment and retaliation action, arguing that it is “sufficiently more efficient” for the insurer to join a related lawsuit that they filed in a California state court against three of their other insurers.

  • October 28, 2025

    Insurer, City Seek Dismissal Of Coverage Suit Arising From Wrongful Conviction

    DURHAM, N.C. — Following a settlement of all claims, a commercial general liability insurer and the city of Concord, N.C., filed a joint stipulation on Oct. 27 asking the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina to dismiss with prejudice the city’s breach of contract and declaratory judgment lawsuit alleging that the insurer has a duty to defend, indemnify and contribute to a $9.3 million settlement of an underlying wrongful conviction lawsuit.

  • October 27, 2025

    Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Rat Bite Fever Lawsuit, Insurer Says

    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — No coverage is owed for an underlying lawsuit filed by a tenant of an insured who alleges that she and her child sustained bodily injuries as a result of a rat infestation in her rental unit because the policy’s organic pathogens exclusion and total pollution exclusion bar coverage for the underlying suit, an insurer says in an Oct. 24 complaint filed in Florida federal court.

  • October 27, 2025

    5th Circuit Argument Set In Appeal Of Fees Award To NFL Disability Claimant

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has scheduled Dec. 3 oral argument in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act appeal where the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan challenges an award of more than $1.25 million in attorney fees and costs to a former National Football League player who sought a higher level of disability benefits than he had been awarded, and the former player counters that the issue “was forfeited long ago.”

  • October 24, 2025

    NRA Seeks High Court Review Of Reversal In Free Speech Suit Over Insurance Program

    NEW YORK — The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals holding that a former superintendent of the New York department that regulates insurance is entitled to qualified immunity on the NRA’s First Amendment coercion and retaliation claims against New York state officials and the department, challenging the panel’s reversal of a lower federal court’s order denying the former superintendent and the department’s motion to dismiss the NRA’s suit alleging that she unconstitutionally threatened or coerced an insurer or other entities to stifle its speech.

  • October 23, 2025

    Homeowners Argue District Court Erred In Finding Insurer Didn’t Act In Bad Faith

    SAN FRANCISCO — In their opening brief filed in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, several homeowners, as assignees of a developer, argue that the Ninth Circuit should reverse a federal judge in Washington’s dismissal of their case alleging that a general liability insurer breached its duty to defend and indemnify the developer for claims arising from the developer’s defective construction of the homeowners’ houses; they specifically argue that the lower court erred in ruling that the insurer did not act in bad faith.

  • October 23, 2025

    Insurer Argues It’s Not Required To Defend Against Negligence Allegations

    FLORENCE, S.C. — A commercial general liability insurer filed a complaint in federal court in South Carolina seeking a declaratory judgment that it does not have to defend two construction companies in an underlying complaint alleging that the companies’ installation of siding and trim led to water intrusion and damages to townhomes.

  • October 23, 2025

    Construction Company Sues Insurer For Denying Coverage Based On Wrong Exclusion

    LOS ANGELES — A construction company sued its insurer and insurance broker in California state court, arguing that the insurer breached its contract by not defending it in an underlying complaint against the company alleging construction defects in the building of five houses; the company argues that the insurer wrongly denied coverage based on a condominium construction exception.

  • October 21, 2025

    Insurer Argues Court Should Not Amend Judgment As To Defective Bin Coverage

    INDIANAPOLIS — A grain equipment company’s insurer argues that a federal court in Indiana should not grant a grain production firm’s motion to alter or amend a partial summary judgment order in favor of the insurer in which the judge held that some of the claimed losses for the repair and replacement of leaky grain storage bins related to a contractual dispute rather than to coverage liability; the insurer argues that the judge correctly found that “the grain bins did not sustain ‘property damage’ as defined (and required) by the Policy.”

  • October 21, 2025

    Insurer: No Connection Between Subcontractor’s Work, Company’s Liability

    SANTA ANA, Calif. — A subcontractor’s insurer says that a federal court in California should grant its motion to dismiss a construction company’s third amended complaint (TAC) against it alleging that it wrongly denied the coverage for claims brought against the company by a builder for damages the company alleges were caused by using the subcontractor’s drawings for the project, arguing the company provides no connection between the subcontractor’s work and the company’s liability.