On November 9, 2016, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals released its decision in Hantz Financial Services, Inc. v. American International Specialty Lines Insurance Co., affirming the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan’s grant of summary judgment in favour of National Union in a claim advanced on a Financial Institution Bond. As we … Continued
On October 18, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit released its opinion in Apache Corporation v. Great American Insurance Company. This is one of the first appellate decisions to consider coverage for a social engineering fraud loss under “traditional” commercial crime policy wording since the widespread introduction of social engineering fraud endorsements. … Continued
In our April 14, 2015 post, we analyzed the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in Tesoro Refining & Marketing Company LLC v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and its implications for what constitutes “unlawful taking” for the purposes of the Employee Theft coverage. The Fifth Circuit Court of … Continued
In our January 6, 2015 post, we analyzed the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Pestmaster Services, Inc. v. Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America and its implications for the interpretation of the Computer Fraud and Funds Transfer Fraud coverages. On July 29, 2016, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals … Continued
On July 8, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington released its decision in Aqua Star (USA) Corp. v. Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America. The decision offers guidance to fidelity insurers with respect to the application of the “authorized entry” exclusion found in the base wording of many commercial crime … Continued
In Telamon Corp. v. Charter Oak Fire Ins. Co., the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana held that a Vice-President of Major Accounts who provided management and marketing services to a telecommunications company was not an “Employee” within the meaning of the employee theft coverage afforded by its Travelers Wrap+ policy, but rather … Continued
On February 18, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California released its decision in Western Alliance Bank v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pa. The Court dismissed a creditor bank’s direct action against a fidelity insurer for indemnity in respect of alleged thefts by the debtor insured’s employees of assets over … Continued
In EMCOR Group, Inc. v. Great American Insurance Company, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals applied a prior insurance provision in a Commercial Crime Policy to restrict coverage to only the immediate prior year that the insured maintained fidelity coverage, rather than the previous five years, as asserted by the insured. The decision highlights the importance … Continued
