CGL Coverage for Employment Practices Liability - Property & Liability Resource Bureau (2024)

Liability Legal News

CO - COOPERATION CLAUSE - UIM Insurers Could Not Assert Insured Failed to Cooperate

Colorado has a statute that specifically outlines the requirements that the insurer must follow to assert noncooperation by the insured and neither insurer complied with the statute’s requirements.

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Liability Question of the Week

In New York, May a Non-Profit Group be Sued for Copyright Infringement? 2024.05.27

This coverage question was based on the specific policy language provided and the case law available at the time it was written.For a general understanding of copyright-advertising issues, see PLRB, Commercial General Liability Policy AnnotationKey GL 110 - "Personal and Advertising Injury Defined.POLICY FORMISO Commercial General Liability Coverage Form CG 00 01 04 13FACTSThe named insured, a New York non-profit group, contracted with a writer to provide clever language to be written into its advertisem*nts. After a falling out, the writer asserted a copyright infringement claim. The named insured is of the belief that its non-profit status insulates it from suit for copyright infringement.STATE OF LOSSNew YorkQUESTIONIn New York, may a non-profit group be sued for copyright infringement?POLICY LANGUAGESECTION V – DEFINITIONS...14. "Personal and advertising injury" means injury,including consequential "bodily injury", arising outof one or more of the following offenses:…f. The use of another's advertising idea in your"advertisem*nt"; org. Infringing upon another's copyright, trade dressor slogan in your "advertisem*nt".ANSWERNotwithstanding the named insured’s belief to the contrary, in New York, a non-profit group may be sued for copyright infringement as could be covered by an ISO CG 00 01 policy.DISCUSSIONNew York courts have held that a non-profit organization does not have special immunity from a determination of copyright violation. See Byrne v. BBC, 132 F.Supp.2d 229 (S.D.N.Y. 2001), citing Lish v. Harper's Magazine Found., 807 F.Supp. 1090, 1100-01 (S.D.N.Y. 1992), where the defendant argued that its status as a non-profit corporation meant that its use of the copyrighted work was non-commercial and for non-profit educational purposes. The court rejected this argument, stating that the non-profit status of an organization does not automatically exempt it from copyright infringement claims.Similarly, in the instant loss, the named insured non-profit status will not automatically exempt it from a copyright infringement claim. That the allegedly copyrighted material was used for advertising purposes may well argue against the use being for non-commercial purposes and may allow coverage under a standard CGL policy. See policy language reproduced above.

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Weather/CATs

View Tornado Damage Assessments on the Wind/Tornado Research Web App

Catastrophe BlogMay 29, 2024The PLRB Wind/Tornado Research Web App provides National Weather Service damage assessment points and lines, including field photos, and preliminary wind and tornado reports.From plrb.org, click on the Weather/CATs heading to visit the Weather & Catastrophe Resource Hub. Then click on Wind/Tornado Search.After the web app loads, please read the splash screen and click OK.Enter the address Sulphur, OK in the address text box in the top right corner of the screen and select it from the dropdown or hit Enter.To filter the wind and tornado reports, National Weather Service (NWS) damage assessments, weather observation data, and wind-related warnings, select the date range using the Select a Date Range filter widget on the left hand side of the screen. In this case, select 4/27/2024 to 4/28/2024. Then click Apply. You may close the date filter widget.After you click Apply, the preliminary wind and tornado reports, and Damage Assessment Survey layers will become visible. Zoom out and/or pan the map using your mouse wheel or the map navigation tools to view data in surrounding areas. Near Sulphur, Oklahoma tornado damage assessments are complete. Click on a damage assessment point to view more information such as estimated EF category, type of structure and associated damage.Often times, the National Weather Service will also include photos of the damage. Click on the attachment links in the information window to open the photo in a new browser tab.Wind and Tornado ReportsPreliminary wind and tornado reports come from the National Weather Service, Storm Prediction Center. These reports are generated from storm spotters who witness the event and contact the National Weather Service with their report. Wind reports include gusts of 58 MPH or greater and wind damage reports. These reports are generated from storm spotters who witness the event and contact the National Weather Service with their report. The reports are intended to give the adjuster an idea of what severe weather was occurring in and around the insured.National Weather Service Damage Assessment SurveysDamage assessment surveys are conducted whenever wind damage from a possible tornado or severe thunderstorm is reported to the NWS. Meteorologists from the local forecast office are assembled into a Damage Assessment Team and tasked with surveying the damage to determine if it was caused by a tornado or straight line wind. The amount of detail can vary from officetooffice. Denial of claims should not be based solely on the information found within. If you need certified weather data you will need to contact a meteorological consulting firm. The time it takes for survey data to be quality-controlled and made available to the public services can vary. Damages points are likely to begin appearing in the first 1-2 days following an event. However, depending on the scope of the event, damage lines and polygons may take longer.All of the National Weather Service tornado and wind reports are considered preliminary and should be treated as such. Denial of claims should not be based solely on the information found within. If you need certified weather data you will need to contact a meteorological consulting firm.National Weather Service Wind-related WarningsData is available 1-2 days after the event has expired. Short term warnings (severe thunderstorm warning, tornado warning, and flash flood warning) are typically displayed as irregular polygons. This data is obtained as shapefiles from Iowa Environmental Mesonet (IEM). Warnings data is dependent upon data available from IEM. Data available 1/1/2017 to present.ObservationsObservation data is based on ground observations at over 1,200 weather stations across the contiguous United States and is contained in the Quality Controlled Local Climatological Data from the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). The data is quality controlled but is not considered verified.Andrew Louchios, GISPAVP - Catastrophe Servicesalouchios@plrb.org630-724-2233

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Test Your Coverage Knowledge

ALE: Commuting Costs For Named Insured’s Resident Son

Named insured lived in her house with her adult son. There was a covered fire loss, and the insured and her son were temporarily relocated to housing that was 10 miles away. At the time of the loss, the insured had an ISO HO 00 03 form, 05/11 edition. Would the named insured's and adult son's increased costs of commuting during the period of restoration be covered under the policy's ALE coverage?

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