Property law in Victorian literature: Ilya Somin’s post on fee tails in Austen novels brought up great comments on similar issues in works by Trollope, Hardy, etc. Apropos of absolutely nothing except the connection with English novels, I recommend Anthony Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time, a 12-volume roman fleuve. […]
The successor-in-interest to the general contractor (Gaston and Associates) for the Anchorage Native Heritage Center sued its comprehensive general liability carrier for a declaration of rights with regard to claims made by several subcontractors. Judge John Sedwick has resolved many coverage and exclusion issues, relying frequently on Fejes v. Alaska Ins. Co., Inc., 984 P.2d 519 (Alaska […]
“Employee” in EPLI policy: Where the employer-defendant reimbursed a third party for an individual’s work, the individual is not the “employee” of the employer-defendant for purposes of ELPI coverage when the policy defines “employee” as “any person who receives wages or a salary from the Entity for work that is directed and controlled by the […]
Employment Practices Liability Insurance: The basics of EPLI are covered today at Pennsylvania Employment Law Blog. Connecticut Employment Lawyer Blog adds commentary. EPLI covers claims that General Liability carriers usually try to exclude. See next item.
Employment-claim exclusion: The 9th Circuit has affirmed a judgment holding that the General Liability insurer succeeded in excluding employment-related claims:
The straight-forward organization of […]
The 9th Circuit has affirmed Judge John Sedwick’s judgment for Lloyds of London, holding
1) the doctrine of uberrimae fidei (”the utmost good faith rule”) is a judicially-established federal admiralty rule that applies to marine insurance;
2) vessel pollution insurance is a form of marine insurance; and
3) on their application for insurance, the vessel owners failed to […]
“Severance pay” v. “continued salary”
The Court of Appeals has reversed the District of Oregon and held that an EPLI insurer must indemnify an employer for settlement payments it made to an employee based on employment contract provisions relating to salary continuation and stock options.
Salary continuation v. severance pay: The employment contract guaranteed Mark Lehnert six years unreduced pay […]
ERISA preemption of municipal regulation of “health care expenditures”: After the District Court enjoined the implementation of San Francisco’s ordinance requiring larger private employers to make provide health care expenditures, the Court of Appeals has now stayed that injunction and issued a lengthy opinion (35 pages) holding that the City and the union intervenors have “a probability, […]
If an employer has an Employment Practices Liability Insurance policy, what event triggers the employer’s duty to notify the insurance company - an oral complaint, an internal grievance, notice of a charge with the EEOC, receipt of a Complaint?
The answer is that it depends on the definition of “claim” in the policy. In a recent […]
Judge Burgess dismisses Allstate’s dec action for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction
Allstate’s aggressive use of a declaratory judgment action to litigate its potential bad faith was rejected by Judge Timothy Burgess in Allstate v. Fielder, et al., Case No. 3:04-cv-00246-TMB.
Allstate brought that action claiming that Robert Libbey (an Anchorage plaintiff’s attorney), the personal representative of the […]
The 9th Circuit has reversed Judge Timothy Burgess, and held that a commerical liability carrier breached its duty of good faith and fair dealing to its insured by issuing an inadequate denial of coverage. The Court of Appeals held:
The denial letter made no reference to any specific law or facts relating to Lutz’s dispute with […]
