On April 3, 2025, a Texas state appeals court reversed a trial court order awarding Exxon Mobil $25 million under an umbrella insurance policy issued by Lexington Insurance Co. to Brock Services Ltd. The appeals court found that the umbrella policy’s employer’s liability exclusion applied to preclude coverage for bodily injury claims made against Exxon given its status as a “statutory employer” of the injured claimants. Brock Services contracted with Exxon to provide ... Keep Reading »
Workers Compensation
Ninth Circuit Finds Settlement and Two-Year Limitations Statute Barred “Bad Faith” Workers’ Compensation Suit by Man Struck by Lightning
In Larson v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that, under Hawaii law, unambiguous broad settlement release language and the two-year tort statute of limitations barred claims that Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. somehow improperly handled a workers’ compensation claim. In February 2002, Lonnie Larson filed for workers’ compensation under his Liberty policy, claiming that he was struck by lightning during the course of ... Keep Reading »
Will Insurance be the Death of Football? Market Constricts Amid Brain Injury Concerns
If you’re a football fan, you probably know that the NFL, despite its continued success, has had to address a range of problems and scandals over the past few years. Those problems range from off-season domestic violence incidents to on-the-field issues involving free speech by players and blown calls by officials. Indeed, the professional football world is currently up in arms over a bad no-call during a key play in a conference championship game that may have cost the ... Keep Reading »
Eleventh Circuit Applies Realignment Doctrine to Undo Years of Coverage Litigation Between Primary and Excess Insurers
In St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, No. 16-12015 (11th Cir. May 29, 2018), a battle between excess and primary carriers, the Eleventh Circuit applied the so-called “realignment doctrine” to long-running coverage litigation and held that the district court never had jurisdiction over the matter in the first place. The underlying dispute arose out of several explosions at an Imperial Sugar Co. refinery in ... Keep Reading »
Marijuana Insurance: Workers’ Compensation Carriers Take a Hit
Marijuana is becoming big business as its growth rate zooms past even the astronomical dotcom industry growth rate of the 1990s. The industry had nearly $7 billion in 2016 revenue (a 30 percent increase over 2015), and an eye-popping $20 billion in annual revenue is projected by 2021. Since the 2016 elections, 28 states plus D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam, have legalized marijuana in some form — of these, eight states plus D.C. have legalized its recreational use. But, ... Keep Reading »
Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Carriers May Pursue Justice
"He who does not punish evil commands that it be done.” -- Leonardo da Vinci Workers’ compensation statutes impose liability without fault on the employers of men and women who are injured on the job. They also permit employers to recoup the costs they incur from any third parties who actually caused the injuries through negligence or wrongful acts. But the liability of most employers is covered by insurance, and insured employers often have no incentive to prosecute ... Keep Reading »
Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… uh oh… a Super Lien!
Liability insurers have always gnashed teeth over the dreaded “super lien” – aka a lien asserted by Medicare for treatment expenses where the patient is reimbursed through a settlement obtained in personal injury litigation. This is because Medicare has a right of action against the primary payer (e.g., a tortfeasor’s liability insurer) that is effectively absolute, even if the insurer has already paid settlement funds to the injured party that includes an amount meant ... Keep Reading »
We Don’t Feel Your Pain: Massachusetts Limits Recoveries By Workers Compensation Insurers
When an injured employee sues a third party for negligence, the law usually permits her employer’s workers compensation insurer to share in the recovery. Last month, in DiCarlo v. Suffolk Construction Co., Nos. SJC-11854 and SJC-11853 (Mass. Feb. 12, 2016), the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts found that this right does not apply to any portion of a settlement designated as compensation for “pain and suffering.” The decision turns on a highly questionable ... Keep Reading »
Of Mice and Manpower: Companies That Lease Employees Cannot Be Self-Insured
In the recent California case of Kimco Staffing Services v. The State of California, the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Appellate District agreed with the lower court that staffing services that provide temporary service employees cannot self-insure their workers compensation liabilities. In making this decision, the Court rejected the plaintiff’s arguments that the State’s position of prohibiting self-insurance was a violation of equal protection. This litigation arose ... Keep Reading »
A DJ is a Sometime Thing: In Declaratory Judgment Actions Over Coverage, the Sixth Circuit Gives Trial Courts a Wide Berth
The Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201, gives federal district courts "unique and substantial discretion" over whether to hear suits seeking a declaration of rights. Wilton v. Seven Falls Co., 515 U.S. 277, 286 (1995). To guide the exercise of that discretion, Courts of Appeals have created lists of relevant considerations—most of which were borrowed from Moore's Federal Practice. See Reifer v. Westport Ins. Co., 751 F.3d 129, 145 n.20 (3d Cir. 2014) ... Keep Reading »