NY Supreme Court, Appellate Division Denies Summary Judgment in Asbestos Case, Upholds Labor Laws
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NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ In a monumental step forward for workers rights and employer accountability, the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, First Judicial Department denied a summary judgment (Case No. 2020-02378) submitted by the defendants of
Morgan v. Am. Home Assurance Co., et al. (Case No. 190063/16). The civil suit focused on a former Pan American World Airways, Inc. (Pan Am) employee who, while working at John F. Kennedy International Airport in the 1970s, was allegedly exposed to asbestos. Later in life, he developed mesothelioma, which led to his early death in 2015.
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Recoupment of defense costs (defense fees and costs) by insurers in the absence of a duty to indemnify under a liability policy is an unsettled issue in many states. In a
recent decision, a New York intermediate appellate court held that even though there was no duty to indemnify an underlying personal injury action under a CGL policy, the insurer could
not recoup the defense costs it had advanced under a reservation of rights (ROR) letter where the policy at issue provided for a duty to defend but did not contain an express contractual provision allowing for the recoupment of such defense costs. This decision, however, by a court for one of four judicial departments in New York, is contrary to other state and federal decisions allowing recoupment under New York law and should be limited to its facts.