Commercial General Liability
NFL Thrown for a Loss: Appeals Court Affirms Stay of California Coverage Action in Favor of Insurers’ New York Suits
A California appellate court has issued a decision that summarizes the status of lawsuits brought in multiple states by dozens of former players, alleging lifelong brain damage from on-field injuries dating back to the 1950s, against the National Football League and NFL Properties LLC, and that also summarizes the status of various insurance coverage actions between the NFL and 32 insurance carriers. In its ruling, the appellate court affirmed a trial court’s decision staying a coverage action brought in California by the NFL and NFL Properties seeking declaratory relief regarding the coverage duties of the insurers for the ex-players’ lawsuits. As a result, parallel coverage actions filed by some of the insurers in New York state courts at approximately the same time as the NFL’s California coverage case will first proceed. Read More

Commercial General Liability
Appeals Court Affirms that “Poor Workmanship” Was Not an “Occurrence”
A Minnesota appellate court has affirmed a trial court’s decision that a commercial general liability insurance policy did not cover damages awarded to homeowners in an arbitration proceeding against a general contractor, ruling that “poor workmanship” was not an “occurrence” within the meaning of the policy. Read More

Commercial General Liability
TCPA’s $500 Liquidated Damages per Violation Are Not Punitive Damages, Illinois Supreme Court Holds
The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 is a remedial and not a punitive statute, and that the $500 liquidated damages per violation provided by the TCPA are not punitive damages. It decided that the “manifest purpose” of the TCPA was “remedial and not penal.” It explained that Congress enacted the TCPA to address telemarketing abuses attributable to the receipt of unsolicited faxes, intending “to prevent advertisers from unfairly shifting the cost of their advertisements to consumers while simultaneously preventing the use of their fax machines for legitimate purposes.” The harms identified by Congress, e.g., loss of paper and ink, annoyance, and inconvenience, while small in reference to individual violations of the TCPA, were “nevertheless compensable” and were “represented by a liquidated sum of $500 per violation,” the court decided. Read More

Automobile Insurance
Divided Ohio Supreme Court Finds for Insureds Despite Uninsured Tortfeasor’s Immunity
A divided Ohio Supreme Court has reversed a trial court’s decision and ruled that the immunity of a tortfeasor police officer did not bar the right of insureds to recover uninsured motorist benefits.  Read More