Month: February 2013

Mitsui Sumitomo Ins. Co. ofAmericav. Duke University Health Sys. No. 11-2057, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. February 11, 2013
The Fourth Circuit held that Duke University Health System was limited to policy limits for one occurrence when a mishap occurred where surgical instruments were sterilized with elevator hydraulic fluid. The facts of the case involve elevator workers placing hydraulic fluid into buckets distributed to them by Duke University, which had originally stored surgical detergents. Duke employees then used the hydraulic fluid …

Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa. v. Seagate Tech. Inc.
U.S.Dist. Ct.,N.D.Cal.

A California federal judge recently held that an insurer did not breach its contract when it stopped defending a policyholder based on a trial court declaratory judgment ruling that was later overturned.

The court explained that in the ordinary case, the duty to defend terminates upon a judicial determination that the insured does not have a potentially-covered claim. The decision granting summary judgment became such a judicial determination when judgment was …

Cincinnati Insurance Co. v. Devon International, Inc. et al. (E.D.Pa) (Index No. 2:11-cv-05930-GP)

A federal court in Pennsylvania limited the number of occurrences under a CGL policy for injuries caused by defective drywall. The case involved a sourcing agent for Chinese products who filled an order for drywall by purchasing them from a Chinese drywall manufacturer and shipping them to Florida. The drywall contained an improper amount of sulfur damaging real and personal property.

Although there were two separate consecutive policies at issue, the insurer …