Most commercial general liability policies issued to bars and restaurants specifically exclude coverage for bodily injury arising out of an assault and battery. In order to avoid this limitation, Plaintiffs often try to trigger coverage by alleging that the insured’s negligence was the cause of the injury—not the actual assault and battery. This strategy may work in some jurisdictions, but it won’t work in New York. Following precedent set by the New York Court of Appeals in 1995, the Supreme Court of New York County held in Hermitage Insurance Company v. Beer-Bros, Inc. that the insurer had no duty to
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Archives for General Insurance Liability
New York Court Finds No Duty to Defend or Indemnify Under Additional Insurance Endorsement Where Injury Did Not Arise From Leased Premises
Slip and falls on sidewalks in front of leased premises often raise questions of who’s responsible, landlord or tenant, and whose carrier should respond in damages. In Leading Ins. Group Ins. Co., Ltd. v. Argonaut Great Cent. Ins. Co., 2015 NY Slip Op 50574 (April 22, 2015), the Supreme Court of New York for Westchester County said the answer lies in the lease and whether the sidewalk is part of the leased premises. In Leading, Hartsdale, the owner of a building leased to tenants for use as a dry cleaner, was sued by a woman, Kellner, who slipped and fell
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New York Court Denies Defendant’s Motion for Suimmary Judgement Because They Failed to Establish Lack of Notice of Defective Golf Path
In Valverde v. Great Expectations, LLC, the New York Appellate Division, First Department denied summary judgment to defendants for failing to make a prima facie showing that they neither created nor had actual or constructive notice of an allegedly defective golf course path. Ms. Valverde, a passenger in a golf cart, was injured when she was thrown from the golf cart while on a golf course owned by Great Expectations. Defendants filed summary judgment seeking a dismissal of Ms. Valverde’s claim. In support, they offered expert testimony regarding the non-defective condition of the path. However, because defendants’ expert did not
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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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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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Pennsylvania Superior Court Rejects Attorney-Client Privilege for Defunct Companies Without Current Representative
The Pennsylvania Superior Court has held that a former in-house attorney for dissolved companies cannot assert the attorney-client privilege in response to a subpoena for documents pertaining to his former representation of the companies. In so doing, the Court held that the attorney-client privilege may only be asserted for a defunct company if a current representative of the company possesses the authority to raise the privilege. Red Vision Systems, Inc. v. National Real Estate Information Services, LLC concerned a complaint against three affiliated title search companies alleging that the companies failed to pay for certain services. After the lawsuit was
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