Archives: Employment Practices Liability

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Key considerations for policyholders after landmark biometric privacy decisions reshape insurance landscape

By Noel Paul on Posted in Commercial General Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
The landscape of biometric privacy litigation already has changed dramatically in 2023. Last month, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in Tims v. Black Horse Carriers, Inc., 2023 IL 127801, that claims for violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) (which allows individuals to sue companies directly for the wrongful collection or disclosure of … Continue Reading

Court’s denial of employment liability coverage for Biometric Information Privacy Act litigation should not discourage policyholders

By Andrew Barrios, John Vishneski and Claire Whitehead on Posted in Employment Practices Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Although the policyholder bar has previously had success obtaining coverage for Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) litigation under an employment practices liability (EPL) policy, insurers recently notched a win by convincing a court to deny EPL coverage for an employee-based BIPA class action.  In Church Mutual Insurance Company v. Prairie Village Supportive Living, LLC, the … Continue Reading

Recent opinions provide support for insureds seeking coverage for BIPA claims

By John Vishneski and Andrew Barrios on Posted in Commercial General Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Since the Illinois Supreme Court’s ruling that class actions alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) trigger general liability coverage, the focus of BIPA coverage litigation has shifted to the applicability of three exclusions often found in general liability policies: (1) the Employment Related Practices exclusion, (2) the Violation of Statutes exclusion, … Continue Reading

The duty to defend requires an early judgment

By Benjamin Fliegel on Posted in Business interruption, Commercial General Liability, Construction Coverage, Corporate and Transactional Insurance Coverage, Cyberliability, Employment Practices Liability, Financial Insurance Coverage, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
If an insurance company owes a duty to defend, the dispute should be decided promptly, on the pleadings. Any delay undermines the duty to defend. The scope of the duty to defend should be adjudicated on the pleadings as quickly as possible to give policyholders the true value of their policies and the benefit of … Continue Reading

“Mind the gap”: Guarding against unintended gaps in coverages

By Max Louik, Dominic Rupprecht and Andrew Kintner on Posted in Employment Practices Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
As a recent decision from the Eleventh Circuit highlights, when purchasing insurance for workplace bodily injuries, policyholders need to be mindful of how all of their policies fit together, keeping an eye out for policy language that insurers may exploit to manufacture unexpected and unintended gaps in coverage. Covering the workplace Typically, employers seek three … Continue Reading

Employment-related practices exclusions and Biometric Information Privacy Act litigation

By Andrew Barrios and John Vishneski on Posted in Commercial General Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Insurance Coverage
In West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. v. Krishna Schaumburg Tan, Inc., 2021 IL 125978, the Supreme Court of Illinois held that coverage existed for a class action alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) under the terms of a general liability policy. Although a win for the policyholder bar, the precedential value … Continue Reading

Pollution exclusion should not preclude coverage for virus-related claims

By Mike Sampson on Posted in Commercial General Liability, Construction Coverage, Corporate and Transactional Insurance Coverage, Cyberliability, D&O, E&O, Professional Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Financial Insurance Coverage, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General, Insurance Insolvency & Regulatory, Insurance News of Note, London/Bermuda Arbitrations, Property Damage & Business Interruption, Uncategorized
Faced with mounting claims for insurance coverage as a result of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, commercial insurers are likely to search for any policy provision that they think will enable them to avoid paying virus-related claims.  One provision that insurers ultimately may invoke in an attempt to deny such claims is the so-called “pollution … Continue Reading

Will your EPLI policy cover “wage and hour” claims in the wake of the California Court of Appeal’s decision in Southern California Pizza?

By Lilit Asadourian, Maisie McDonald and Lavinia S. Osilesi on Posted in Employment Practices Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance News of Note
It has long been acknowledged that typical Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) policies exclude coverage for “wage and hour” claims.[1] [2]  However, a recent California Court of Appeal decision, Southern California Pizza Co., LLC v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London Subscribing to Policy Number 11EPL-20208,[3] narrows the definition of what is a wage and hour … Continue Reading

California Supreme Court rules broadly in favor of insureds

By Kerry Roberson and David E. Weiss on Posted in Commercial General Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
On Monday, June 4, 2018, the California Supreme Court ruled that an insurance company must provide liability coverage to its corporate insured against claims of negligent hiring, retention, and supervision of its employee, who allegedly sexually assaulted a 13-year-old child. The case is Liberty Surplus Ins. Corp. v. Ledesma & Meyer Construction Co., Inc., Case … Continue Reading

Beware the Fine (Thumb) Print: Insurance Coverage for Class Actions Under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, and Similar Biometric Privacy Statutes

By Andy Moss, David Cummings, Robert Deegan and Michael Galibois on Posted in Cyberliability, D&O, E&O, Professional Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance News of Note
Since July 2017, national, regional and local businesses operating in Illinois have been hit with a virtual storm of class actions under the Illinois Biometrics Privacy Act (“BIPA”), 740 ILCS 14 et seq.  BIPA regulates how businesses may record and store biometric data from customers or employees, and these actions create the potential for significant … Continue Reading

Schrödinger’s Coverage: When a Risk is Covered and Not Covered by Insurance

By Andy Moss on Posted in Commercial General Liability, Cyberliability, D&O, E&O, Professional Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Financial Insurance Coverage, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General, Property Damage & Business Interruption
When is a person an “employee” under one insurance policy but not an employee under another?   Conflicting or inconsistent definitions across multiple policy lines issued to the same company can give rise to significant gaps in insurance coverage, as a recent opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit instructs, Telamon Corp. … Continue Reading

Don’t Wait Too Long: Failure to Give Timely Notice Under an EPL Policy May Preclude Coverage as a Matter of Law

By Melissa Meth on Posted in Employment Practices Liability
Two years is too long to wait before reporting an EEOC charge to your EPL carrier, according to a recent a court decision from the Western District of Virginia. A company’s employment practices liability policy defined “employment claim” to include “a formal administrative or regulatory proceeding commenced by the filing of a notice of charges…including…a … Continue Reading
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