Colorado, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia www.steptoe-johnson.com Susan S. Brewer, CEO
Volume 10 • Issue 32 • Spring 2012
Liability Policy Exclusions Page 2
The #Metoo Movement Page 4
The Policy Giveth And The Policy Taketh Away Page 8
This newsletter is a periodic publication of Steptoe & Johnson PLLC’s
Insurance Company Team and should not be construed as legal advice
or legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances. The contents
are intended for general information purposes only, and you are
urged to consult your own lawyer concerning your own situation and
any specific legal questions you may have. For further information,
please contact a member of the Insurance Company Team. This is an
advertisement.
Employers face liability in a variety of contexts;
however, commercial general liability (“CGL”)
policies “generally exclude coverage for injury to an
employee ‘arising out of and in the course of’ the
employment.”1 In addition, CGL policies typically
“exclude[] loss for ‘any obligation of the insured
under a workers compensation, disability benefits
or unemployment compensation law or any similar
law.’”2 There are coverages available, however, to
address these exclusions. For instance, “[e]mployers’
liability insurance is traditionally written in
conjunction with workers’ compensation insurance
and is intended to fill gaps by providing protection
in those situations in which [an] employee has a
right to bring [a] tort action despite provisions of [a]
workers’ compensation statute, or [the] employee
is not subject to workers’ compensation law . . . .”3
Additionally, employment practices liability (“EPL”)
coverage provides “protection against such claims as
wrongful discharge from employment, discrimination,
and sexual harassment.”4
The articles in this edition highlight issues associated
with employers’ liability and EPL insurance. What
trends are emerging in employment litigation, which
could implicate EPL coverage? What are the common
exclusions to employers’ liability insurance? How
have courts analyzed language in employers’ liability
policies? The articles herein will provide you with a
“FirstLook” at these forms of insurance.
INSIDE THIS EDITION:
Takin’ Care of Business
Employer Liability:
Policies, Exclusions,
and Emerging Trends
Letter from the Insurance Company Team
________________
1 § 26:29.Workers compensation and employers liability, 2 Casualty
Insurance Claims § 26:29 (4th ed.).
2 Id.
3 § 225.157.Employers’ Liability Insurance; Introduction; Relationship
to Workers’ Compensation, 16 Couch on Ins. § 225:157 (citing La Jolla
Beach & Tennis Club, Inc. v. Indus. Indem. Co., 884 P.2d 1048 (Cal.
1994).
4 § 132:57.Employer activity (employer’s liability), 9A Couch on Ins.
§ 132:57.
