In 2017, FedEx faced a series of class action lawsuits resulting from the alleged “unmasking” of customers’ credit card numbers on receipts in violation of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA). FedEx submitted a claim to Continental Casualty Company for defense of the FACTA actions under a policy covering FedEx against certain “Professional Services Liability” claims. Continental denied the claim, and FedEx bore approximately $2.3 million in costs ... Keep Reading »
Fifth Circuit Holds That Ensuing Loss Provision of Builders’ Risk Policy Requires Two Separate Events to Qualify for the Construction Exclusion Carve-Out
In Balfour Beatty Construction, LLC v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company, No. 19-20216 (August 3, 2020), the Fifth Circuit determined that Liberty Mutual’s policy does not cover a construction company’s claim for window damage to a skyscraper caused by a subcontractor’s welding because the policyholder failed to show the damage resulted from a covered peril. The case turned on the court’s interpretation of the policy’s construction exclusion, which included an ... Keep Reading »
Ninth Circuit Finds No Coverage Under Advertising Liability Policy for Walmart’s Floor Display of Goods and Services Supplied by Insured Apparel Vendor
In Hybrid Promotions LLC v. Federal Insurance Co., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that an advertising liability policy issued to Hybrid did not apply to an advertising "arrangement" created by Walmart's placement of Hybrid's goods and signage in close proximity to signage created by the underlying claimant MMA Elite. Hybrid Promotions LLC supplied Walmart with apparel and associated display racks and signage. Pursuant to its agreement with Walmart, ... Keep Reading »
Eighth Circuit Enforces Contract Liability Exclusions to Bar Contract Claims, Regardless of Non-Contractual Cause of Action in Complaint
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently decided a case, Russell v. Liberty Insurance Underwriters Inc., involving a dispute between the co-owners of a business and the widow of their deceased former partner. The widow sued the business’s surviving co-owners for breach of fiduciary duty for failing to apply a life insurance payout to the company to buy out her deceased husband’s shares pursuant to an agreement between the business owners. The co-owners submitted the ... Keep Reading »
SEC-ordered Disgorgement is an Uninsurable “Penalty,” not a Covered “Loss”
A New York intermediate appellate court has ruled that a $140 million “disgorgement” payment ordered by the SEC in resolution of an investigation into securities laws violations was a “penalty” that was not covered by insurance rather than a covered “loss.” The case, J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc. v. Vigilant Ins. Co., 2018 NY Slip Op. 06146 (App. Div., 1st Dept. Sept. 20, 2018, stemmed from a 2003 investigation into claims that Bear Stearns employees knowingly ... Keep Reading »
When Relying on a Prior Acts Exclusion to Deny Coverage, Be Sure to Connect the Dots
In Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s of London v. Federal Deposit Ins. Corp., No. 16-16702 (11th Cir. Jan. 23, 2018), the Eleventh Circuit concluded that a “prior acts” exclusion in a D&O policy did not bar coverage where the insurer failed to prove a clear connection to events that occurred before inception of the insurance policy. As this case demonstrates, when an insurer relies on a prior acts exclusion to deny coverage, it not only must establish the wrongful ... Keep Reading »