In Rice Enterprises LLC v. RSUI Indemnity Co., the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s finding that the insured was not entitled to coverage from its employer’s liability insurer or its umbrella...more
5/19/2025
/ Appeals ,
Damages ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Food Service Workers ,
Habitual Offender Status ,
Hostile Environment ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Liability Insurance ,
McDonalds ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Umbrella Policies ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance
Applying well-settled Wisconsin law, a federal district court found that an insurer had no duty to indemnify an oral hygiene product manufacturer for tainted products after determining that the losses did not result from an...more
In Riverback Farms LLC v. Saukville Feed Supplies Inc., a panel of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals found that an intentional act may still constitute an “occurrence” under a commercial general liability policy, reversed the...more
In Century Communities of Georgia LLC v. Selective Way Insurance Co., the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that the Georgia Supreme Court’s 2012 opinion in Hoover v. Maxum Indemnity Co. does not apply to “coverage...more
In EMOI Services LLC v. Owners Insurance Co., No. 2021-1529 (Ohio Dec. 27, 2022), the Ohio Supreme Court found that there was no coverage for a ransomware attack because there was no direct physical loss as required under the...more
In Datamaxx Applied Technologies Inc. v. Brown & Brown Inc., the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the insurer, finding no merit in the insured’s argument that the...more
In granting summary judgment to the insurer and finding no duty to defend, Louisiana’s highest court reversed a trial court’s ruling on the basis of the “clear and unambiguous” assault and battery exclusion in a commercial...more
In Mehic v. Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Co., the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia determined that an insured did not satisfy a condition precedent to coverage under a homeowners policy —...more
Sentinel Insurance Co. v. VLM Foods Inc. arose after a hepatitis A outbreak was traced back to contaminated strawberries used and sold by several insured smoothie cafe franchises. The insured tendered all of the outbreak...more
In Apollo Education Group Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, the Arizona Supreme Court found that the reasonableness of the insurer’s decision to refuse to consent to settlement under a directors and...more
In Maritz Holdings Inc. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, a federal court in Missouri denied an insurer’s motion to dismiss the insured’s assertion of a vexatious refusal to pay claim based on an obscure...more
Potential Six-Year Delay in Notice of Flood and Mold Damage “Substantially Prejudiced” Insurer -
In Atain Specialty Insurance Company v. Carolina Professional Builders, LLC et al., 2:18-cv-2352-BHH (D.S.C. Oct. 2, 2020),...more
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently had occasion to clarify the parameters of a “claim” in insurance policies. In Market Street Bancshares Inc. v. Federal Insurance Co., Judge Kanne penned an opinion holding that a...more
In Selective Way Insurance Co. v. MAK Services Inc., the Superior Court of Pennsylvania reversed an insurer-favorable summary judgment after finding that its reservation of rights letter was insufficient....more
One decision that flew under the radar in 2019 continues the recent trend of courts to dispense, under among other things the previously discussed “at-issue” waiver doctrine, with insurers’ fundamental rights to...more
In Universal Cable Prods. LLC v. Atlantic Specialty Ins. Co., 2:16 cv-04435 PA, (9th Cir. July 12, 2019), the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s determinations as it relates to the application of two war exclusions....more
A recent grant of certiorari will determine whether formality should prevail over the reality of what the trial court unquestionably knows. On June 3, 2019, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Holguin-Hernandez v. United...more
On May 1, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia held that a firearms exclusion in a general liability insurance policy applied to bar coverage for an underlying action arising from a shooting at the...more
5/3/2019
/ Ambiguous ,
Bodily Injury ,
Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Duty to Defend ,
Duty to Indemnify ,
Firearms ,
Insurance Industry ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Judgment on the Pleadings ,
Motion for Reconsideration ,
Negligence ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Reversal ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Wrongful Death
In Harper Construction Co. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, the Southern District of California rejected an insured’s attempt to expand a CGL policy’s definition of “suit” to encompass mere demands without...more
4/22/2019
/ Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Construction Defects ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Dispute Resolution Clauses ,
Duty to Defend ,
Federal Contractors ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Policy Terms
Ambiguity strikes again. While the heavily litigated pollution exclusion is well-known in the insurance world, its progeny—the indoor air exclusion—only recently has started making its way around the block. ...more