U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

In Hastings Development, LLC v. Evanston Insurance Company, No. 14-cv-6203 (ADS)(AKT) (Oct. 30, 2015), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York correctly determined that an “Employer’s Liability” exclusion in a commercial general liability (“CGL”) policy only applied and precluded coverage when an insured is sued by its own employee(s) and not by an employee(s) of a co-insured. Believing that the exclusion was ambiguous, and based on “the lack of any probative extrinsic evidence” concerning the parties’ intent, the district court applied “the rule of contra preferentem” and found it “appropriate to adopt the Plaintiff’s interpretation of the exclusion because the Plaintiff is the insured and its interpretation of the exclusion is the narrower interpretation.”
Continue Reading Eastern District of New York ultimately arrives at right outcome when interpreting “Employer’s Liability” exclusion in CGL policy