Lark v. Western Heritage Ins. Co., 64 F. Supp. 3d 802
Oct 31, 2014OUTCOME: Motion granted in part and denied in part.
An insurer was not obligated to defend insureds in an underlying lawsuit because under the terms of a general liability insurance policy, the insurer was only obligated to defend for legal obligations ... from occurrences or accidents, and the allegations in the underlying lawsuit stemmed from intentional assaults, which were not occurrences; [2]-The insurer was required to defend the insureds under an assault and battery endorsement because the endorsement's plain language demonstrated that it provided coverage for damages arising out of assault and battery and that it operated separately from the general policy; [3]-As the term "event" in the assault and battery endorsement was ambiguous, the court construed it in favor of the insureds and found that the assaults alleged in the underlying lawsuits constituted two separate events, each giving rise to $100,000 in coverage.
