Publication

MMM's Seslee Smith and Ryan Burke recently spoke to Law360 regarding a Georgia federal judge's ruling that requires Northfield Insurance Company to defend Northbrook Industries Inc. in a trafficking lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims that Northbrook knew or should have known about the trafficking and knowingly benefited from it. U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Geraghty determined that the policy's abuse or molestation exclusion was inapplicable, as the plaintiff claimed bodily injuries independent of any alleged abuse. Burke explains that "the courts are looking to be protective of the claimants because if there's coverage, then there's money for them to recover" and that the court "probably wants, if possible, to avoid getting the insurance company out of the case before it's even started, and I think that's why you're seeing the courts here in Georgia determine there is a duty to defend."

Burke also highlighted the variation in how courts across different states handle similar cases, pointing towards a recent Pennsylvania decision where he states that "the way that the Third Circuit and the district courts in Pennsylvania have looked at it is you can't pull apart the allegations of assault or battery from things like a false imprisonment [claim] or the emotional harm that the claimants have gone through." Seslee Smith emphasized the importance of clarity in insurance policy language and states that there will be a "hodgepodge of rulings out of various jurisdictions" if insurers continue to "essentially custom write the exclusions."

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