Massachusetts Court of Appeals Archives - The Insurance & Reinsurance Report

May 2, 2017 Duty to Defend

Intoxication Not a Defense to Expected or Intended Injury Exclusion, Massachusetts Appellate Court Says

In Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Casey, 91 Mass. App. Ct. 243 (Mar. 29, 2017), the Massachusetts Appeals Court held in essence, that the insured (Casey)’s impairment due to alcohol and drugs at the time of the underlying assault did not render the insurance policy’s expected or intended exclusion inapplicable. The undisputed facts established that Casey had the capacity to form the requisite intent to injure the underlying plaintiff.

Seventeen-year-old Casey “sucker punched” Williams, the underlying plaintiff, in the face with a closed …

December 2, 2015 Life, Health, Disability & ERISA

Employee’s Equitable Interest in Boss’s Life Insurance Policy Trumps Boss’s Ability to Designate Wife as Beneficiary

In Shuttle v. Ligor (Mass. App. Ct., Nov. 20, 2015) the Massachusetts Court of Appeals held an employer was equitably estopped from changing the beneficiary of his life insurance policy from his employee to his wife, but the wife (who received the policy proceeds) owed nothing to the employee.

An employee of many years had been informed by her boss that she was designated as a beneficiary under his life insurance policy. The employee was told that her boss’s designation of her as beneficiary …