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Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

  • September 16, 2025

    Insured’s Assignees Say Coverage Owed For Underlying Carbon Monoxide Suit

    CLEVELAND — A commercial auto insurer breached its contract when it claimed that its pollution exclusion barred coverage to an insured for an underlying carbon monoxide poisoning suit, the assignees of the insured contend in a complaint filed in Ohio federal court.

  • September 16, 2025

    Countertop Manufacturer Seeks Coverage For Underlying Silica Bodily Injury Suits

    LOS ANGELES — An insured manufacturer and distributor of countertops and countertop products filed suit in California state court, claiming that its insurers breached their contracts of insurance and acted in bad faith in relying on their policies’ pollution and silica exclusions to deny coverage for underlying silica-exposure bodily injury suits in which the insured is named as a defendant.

  • September 16, 2025

    Reinsurer Claims Lack Of Issue Preclusion In Mine Subsidence Suit Against Railroad

    SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A reinsurer filed a reply memorandum supporting its motion for summary judgment in litigation concerning mine subsidence claims, contending that a railroad company’s opposition raises no material factual disputes and that its arguments are immaterial to the claim and issue preclusion factors central to the case.

  • September 16, 2025

    Insurer Moves For Judgment To Appeal Ruling In Suit Brought By Petroleum Company

    HONOLULU — An insurer moved for entry of judgment so it can immediately appeal a federal court in Hawaii’s summary judgment ruling against it in a lawsuit filed by an insured petroleum company seeking coverage for underlying claims that the company is responsible for contributing to the effects of global warming based on its failure to warn of the hazards of using fossil fuel products, challenging the court’s finding that it has a duty to defend under two policies that did not include pollution exclusions.

  • September 10, 2025

    Developer Argues Genuine Issues Exist As To Whether Defects Coverage Exists

    SAN FRANCISCO — A housing developer opposed its excess insurer’s motion for summary judgment in the developer’s breach of contract case in federal court in California against the insurer after the homeowners reported construction defects, arguing that genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether the insurer had breached its contract.

  • September 10, 2025

    LTD Claimant Urges 11th Circuit To Reverse Summary Judgment In Tax Returns Row

    ATLANTA — Urging the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to take the position outlined in a report and recommendation that the lower court declined to adopt, a deaf engineer who received long-term disability (LTD) benefits for about a decade before they were terminated due to his refusal to provide personal tax returns argues in part that the insurer isn’t entitled to interpret the term “work” because it is not ambiguous.

  • September 09, 2025

    Defendant Seeks Rehearing In Insurer’s Subrogation Suit Prompted By Jet Damage

    SAN FRANCISCO — An aircraft facility operator on Sept. 8 filed a petition asking the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its opinion that affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in an insurer’s subrogation lawsuit arising from property damage incurred by the insured’s privately owned noncommercial aircraft while it was parked and stored at the petitioner’s facility, challenging the court’s finding that there is a genuine dispute of material fact regarding whether it was reasonable for the petitioner to conclude that the pilot had the apparent authority to bind the aircraft owner to the limitation of liability provision of the landing card.

  • September 09, 2025

    Silica Exclusions Bar Coverage For Silica Exposure Lawsuits, Insurers Say

    LOS ANGELES — No coverage is afforded to Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. for more than 100 bodily injury lawsuits seeking damages as a result of silica exposure from countertops sold and marketed by Home Depot because the retailer is not an additional insured under policies issued to the countertop manufacturer and because the policies’ exclusions for silica and pollution bar coverage, insurers maintain in a complaint filed in California federal court.

  • September 08, 2025

    Pollution Liability Insurer Owes Defense For Contamination Suit, Insureds Maintain

    LAFAYETTE, La. — A pollution liability insurer has a duty to defend its insureds in an underlying suit seeking damages for saltwater contamination because the underlying complaint alleges claims that are potentially covered under the policy, the insureds maintain in a motion for partial summary judgment.

  • September 05, 2025

    Insured Appeals No Coverage Ruling For Coffee Farmers’ False Advertising Claims

    HONOLULU — An insured notified a federal court in Hawaii on Sept. 4 that it is appealing the court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of an insurer in a coverage dispute arising from claims that the insured falsely advertised that the coffee it sold contained 100% Kona coffee.

  • September 04, 2025

    Review Standard Is Focus Of 2nd Circuit Briefing In Appeal Of LTD Benefits Denial

    NEW YORK — Standard of review is the sole issue in a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenge to a ruling upholding denial of long-term disability (LTD) benefits, with the insurer arguing in its answering brief first that it had discretionary authority under the plan and second that there are no grounds to disregard that grant because it complied with claim regulations.

  • September 04, 2025

    Parties Agree To Dismiss Contamination Coverage Suit In Pennsylvania Federal Court

    PITTSBURGH — An insurer and its insured filed a joint stipulation of dismissal in Pennsylvania federal court after agreeing to litigate the insurer’s declaratory judgment suit in Massachusetts federal court where the insured filed a similar suit seeking coverage for underlying environmental contamination lawsuits.

  • September 03, 2025

    Reinsurer Claims Guaranty Terms Are ‘Unconditional’ In Suit Dismissal Opposition

    NEW YORK — A reinsurer opposes a Florida businessman’s motion to dismiss its breach of contract suit in a New York federal court centered on a personal guaranty of a defaulted $34.4 million loan, contending that the guaranty is “absolute and unconditional” and that repayment cannot be evaded because the dismissal arguments for lack of consideration and a violation of the statute of frauds are foreclosed by the guaranty’s language.

  • September 03, 2025

    Owner Of Former MiLB Team Seeks $5.5M From National Association’s D&O Insurer

    CONCORD, N.H. — The owner and operator of a former minor league baseball team filed a lawsuit in a New Hampshire federal court alleging that the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues Inc.’s insurer breached a directors and officers liability insurance policy by failing to pay a $5,550,000 judgment awarded against its insured in an underlying breach of fiduciary lawsuit.

  • August 28, 2025

    Processor Seeks Oral Argument In Challenge To Reinsurer’s Arbitration Award

    NEW YORK — A food processing company asked a New York federal judge to schedule oral argument on its petition to vacate portions of an arbitration award granted to a reinsurer, as well as the reinsurer’s cross-motion to confirm the award, related to a poultry rendering facility fire and subsequent reinsurance dispute.

  • August 27, 2025

    Insured Says District Court’s Aggregate Limit Ruling Must Be Reversed

    SAN FRANCISCO — An umbrella liability insurer failed to explain why its insured’s interpretation of policy language pertaining to an aggregate limit is not supported, an insured says in urging the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court’s ruling in a dispute over coverage for environmental contamination remediation costs.

  • August 26, 2025

    Property Owner Sues CGL Insurer In Dispute Arising From Music Video Shooting

    ATLANTA — An Atlanta property owner sued a commercial general liability insurer in a federal court in Georgia for breach of contract and declaratory relief, arguing that the insurer has a duty to pay more than $250,000 in attorney fees the property owner has incurred in defending against an underlying personal injury lawsuit arising from a shooting that occurred during the filming of a music video and that it is entitled to hire its own independent counsel at the expense of the insurer.

  • August 25, 2025

    Parties Stipulate To Dismissing LTD Case Filed Over Commission Calculations

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Without substantive explanation, an insurer and disability claimant stipulated to dismissal with prejudice of a suit in Connecticut federal court challenging the discontinuation of long-term disability (LTD) benefits, with “all parties to bear their own costs and attorneys’ fees.”

  • August 25, 2025

    Insurers Appeal Duty To Defend, Indemnify Ruling In Sex Trafficking Coverage Suit

    NORFOLK, Va. — Insurers filed a notice indicating that they are appealing a federal court’s ruling that granted an insured’s motion to dismiss their lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that they have no duty to defend or indemnify against a Jane Doe’s claims that she was trafficked for sex at a hotel that was owned or operated by the insured, challenging the court’s ruling that the policy unambiguously covers the conduct alleged in the underlying action.

  • August 21, 2025

    Insurer Argues Court Properly Determined Breach Of Contract Action Failed

    PHILADELPHIA — In opposing a homeowner’s motion for reconsideration of a Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge’s dismissal of his amended complaint for damages he was awarded in an underlying suit against an insured contractor, an insurer argues that the magistrate properly determined that the homeowner’s breach of contract cause of action failed and that the homeowner is merely rehashing old arguments.

  • August 20, 2025

    ‘Coverage Position Is Frivolous And Unfounded,’ Insured Argues In Data Breach Suit

    GAINESVILLE, Fla. — An insured sued its insurer in a federal court in Georgia for breach of contract and bad faith seeking cyber defense coverage for putative class actions brought as a result of a 2024 data breach.

  • August 20, 2025

    LTD Recipient Amends Complaint Over IRA Rollover Offset

    BILLINGS, Mont. — Following a Montana federal court ruling that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act governs the long-term disability (LTD) policy at issue and preempts the previously asserted state law claims, a plaintiff who is challenging an offset that reduced his monthly benefit filed a second amended complaint making a single ERISA claim for recovery of plan benefits.

  • August 20, 2025

    Insured Sues D&O Insurer For Defense Costs Arising From Securities Fraud Suit

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A corporation insured sued its directors and officers liability insurer in a Delaware federal court for breach of contract and seeks a declaration that the insurer must promptly reimburse it for the costs it has incurred in defending an underlying securities fraud lawsuit brought by shareholders.

  • August 20, 2025

    Insurer Disputes Coverage For Suit Alleging Dental Office Violated Privacy Rights

    CHICAGO — A commercial general liability and umbrella insurer filed suit in a federal court in Illinois seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify for an underlying putative class action alleging that its dental office insured violated privacy rights through its use of internet tracking that collected private information without notice and without consent, arguing that the policy exclusion for access to/disclosure of private information bars coverage.

  • August 19, 2025

    Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Carbon Monoxide Leak, Insurer Says

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An insured is not entitled to defense or indemnity for underlying lawsuits seeking damages caused by carbon monoxide exposure stemming from the faulty installation of tankless hot water heaters because the policy’s total pollution exclusion bars coverage, an insurer asserts in a complaint filed in Florida federal court.