Workplace Profanity Can Support Religious Discrimination Claim
A United States District Court for the District of Oregon recently held that a Plaintiff may use anti-religious comments and workplace profanity as evidence in support of a religious-based hostile work...
View ArticleEconomic Loss Ruling Expected to Have Minimal Impact on Florida Agents
The Florida Supreme Court recently issued its much-discussed opinion in Tiara Condominium Association, Inc., etc., v. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., etc., et al. (No. SC10-1022). Strictly...
View ArticleExclusion of Expert Testimony When Opinion Not Disclosed Before Trial
A recent Mississippi Supreme Court case held that the trial court should have excluded testimony of an expert based on the fact that the expert’s theory at trial was an entirely new theory...
View ArticleTexas Supreme Court Allows Merit-Based Reviews of Orders Granting New Trial
On August 30, 2013, the Texas Supreme Court decided a significant case regarding whether an appellate court may conduct a merits-based review of a trial court’s order granting a new trial...
View ArticleSeventh Circuit Says Employers Cannot Defend Themselves by Claiming EEOC...
In EEOC v. Mach Mining, LLC, No. 13-2455 (7th Cir. Dec. 20, 2013), the Seventh Circuit held that employers may not defend against an EEOC-filed lawsuit by claiming that the EEOC failed to comply with...
View ArticleNational Labor Relations Board Concedes Defeat on Notice Posting Rule
On January 6, 2014, the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") issued a press release announcing its decision to not seek U.S. Supreme Court review of two U.S. Court of Appeals'...
View ArticleFifth Circuit Affirms Ruling that Subcontractor Does Not Have the Duty to...
The Fifth Circuit applied Texas' "eight-corner" doctrine and affirmed a district court's ruling that a subcontractor did not owe the general contractor a duty to defend or indemnify...
View ArticleFlorida Court Finds Consent Order Issued to Insurer is Permissable Evidence...
A Florida appellate court recently held that a consent order from the Florida Department of Financial Services regarding an insurer's actions was permissible evidence by an insured to prove that the...
View ArticleOklahoma Supreme Court Applies Oklahoma Statute Limiting Subrogation to Texas...
The Supreme Court of Oklahoma granted certiorari to hold that an employer's insurer could not under Oklahoma law seek subrogation from an employee's widow who sought benefits for her husband's death in...
View ArticleArkansas Appellate Court Finds Judgment Creditor of Insured Has No Direct...
The Court of Appeals of Arkansas affirmed the dismissal of a suit by a judgment creditor of a bankrupt insured against the insured's liability insurer, ruling that the creditor had no standing as an...
View ArticleFlorida Court Enforces Policy's Mandatory Foreign Forum Selection Clause
A Florida appellate court recently held that a mandatory foreign forum selection clause in an environmental policy was enforceable despite the insured's contention that enforcement of the clause would...
View ArticleFederal Court in Oklahoma Holds No "Drop-Down" Coverage under Excess and...
A federal court in Oklahoma held that neither excess nor umbrella insurers had a duty to "drop down" in coverage where a primary insurer proved insolvent. Each insurer's policy...
View ArticleKentucky Appellate Court Finds Employer Liability Exclusion Inapplicable to...
The Court of Appeals of Kentucky has held that a severability of interests clause precluded application of an employer liability exclusion to claims asserted against an additional insured who did not...
View ArticleFederal Court in North Carolina Holds Mortgagor is Intended Third-Party...
A federal court in North Carolina recently held that mortgagors are intended third-party beneficiaries to lender force-placed policies such that they could bring claims for unfair and deceptive trade...
View ArticleFourth Circuit Holds that Insured Was Nominal Party that Need Not Consent to...
The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that an insured that was a nominal party was not required to consent to a removal in a coverage action among its insurers seeking to allocate a...
View ArticleFederal Court in Florida Holds Criminal Adjudication May Establish Factual...
A federal court in Florida held that statements on the record at a criminal plea hearing and an adjudication of guilt could be used to establish the factual predicate necessary for a liability...
View ArticleFifth Circuit Upholds Appraisal Award and Affirms Summary Judgment for Insurer
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld an appraisal award and dismissed an insured's extra-contractual claim maintaining that the district court was entitled to disregard modifications...
View ArticleSixth Circuit Finds Faulty Construction is Not an Occurrence under Kentucky Law
Reversing the decision of a federal district court in Kentucky, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that claims against a subcontractor for faulty work in preparing a building pad did not...
View ArticleEconomic Loss Ruling Expected to Have Minimal Impact on Florida Agents
The Florida Supreme Court recently issued its much-discussed opinion in Tiara Condominium Association, Inc., etc., v. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., etc., et al. (No. SC10-1022). Strictly...
View ArticleTexas Supreme Court Allows Merit-Based Reviews of Orders Granting New Trial
On August 30, 2013, the Texas Supreme Court decided a significant case regarding whether an appellate court may conduct a merits-based review of a trial court’s order granting a new trial...
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