In an opinion predicting Pennsylvania state law, the Third Circuit Federal Court of Appeals ruled that punitive damages awarded against an insured in a personal injury suit are not recoverable in a later breach of contract or bad faith suit against the insurer. In Wolfe v. Allstate, the Court examined Pennsylvania’s long-standing public policy regarding the uninsurability of punitive damages and predicted that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court would conclude that, in a bad faith action against an insurer, an insured may not collect as compensatory damages the punitive damages awarded against the insured in the underlying suit. In this case,
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Archives for Complex Insurance Liability
NY Top Court Affirms Bright Line Rule of Strict Liability for Injuries Caused by Dogs
Addressing two separate, but similar lawsuits involving bicycle collisions caused by dogs, a divided New York Court of Appeals held that the dogs’ owners could not be sued for negligence based on the owners’ inadequate supervision of the animals. In Doerr v. Goldsmith and Dobinski v. Lockhart, Plaintiffs were injured when they collided with unleashed dogs while riding their bicycles. Relying on longstanding precedent, the Court determined that Plaintiffs could not bring negligence causes of action against the dogs’ owners, since the only basis for suit under the law was a theory of strict liability by showing an animal’s vicious
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The Inadmissibility of Expert Net Opinions Addressed by Another New Jersey Court
Relying on the rationale set forth in the recently decided case of Townsend v. Pierre (see post of March 13, 2015), the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court affirmed the summary judgment dismissal of a personal injury action in Deniese v. Site Service Group Inc. (unpublished), on the basis that plaintiff’s expert rendered an inadmissible net opinion regarding the defendant’s alleged negligence. Mr. Deniese was injured when he slipped and fell into a row of shrubs while brushing snow from his car, which was parked in front of a bank. He sued the bank’s snow removal and landscaping
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Federal Court Rejects Wrongful Death Claim Against Municipality Regarding Street Crossing
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has dismissed a wrongful death claim against a municipality, police department, and school district based upon allegations that these parties created dangerous circumstances at a street crossing that led to a minor’s death. Estate of Viola v. Township of Bensalem concerned the death of a high school student while crossing a street on his way to a school bus stop. Among other claims, the student’s parents and his estate brought a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 under a state-related danger theory. In support of this claim, the plaintiffs
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New York Appellate Court Holds That Landlord is Not Liable for Fall From Roof Accessible From Apartment Window
An intermediate New York appellate court has held that a landlord was not liable for a tenant’s fall from the building’s roof, as the fact that the roof was accessible from the roof did not render the plaintiff’s use of the roof foreseeable. Feuerherm v.Grodinsky concerned an accident that occurred at a seven-unit apartment. The injured tenant had moved into the building at most a few weeks prior to the accident. A portion of the building’s roof was accessible from the injured tenant’s room. After drinking at a bar, the plaintiff tenant arrived home at 3 am, and was found
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Pennsylvania Superior Court Reverses Trial Court Determination That Sidewalk Defect is “Trivial”
The Pennsylvania Superior Court has reversed a trial court decision granting summary judgment for the defense in a sidewalk defect case, after determining that the trial court erroneously held as a matter of law that the defect in question was “trivial.” Reinoso v. Warminster Heritage concerned an accident at a shopping center in which the plaintiff tripped and fell on a raised piece of sidewalk, resulting in a broken left hand and fractured ribs. The plaintiff’s expert engineer/architect determined that there was a differnce of 5/8 of an inch between sidewalk sections in the area where the plaintiff fell. The
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New Jersey Appellate Court Declines to Hold Fraternity Liable for Shooting During Party
The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division has held that a fraternity is not liable for a shooting occurring during a party at a fraternity house, on the grounds that the shooting was not reasonably foreseeable. Peguero v. Tau Kappa Epsilon concerned a party at a private residence rented by several fraternity members. While the house was not recognized as an official chapter house of the fraternity, it was widely regarded by students as affiliated with the fraternity. While trying to assist a friend involved in an argument, a party attendee was shot and wounded by an unknown individual.
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