Pennsylvania

PA Superior Court Finds That Employer Is Liable For Contribution Despite Not Being At Fault For Plaintiffs’ Injuries

In McLaughlin v. Nahata, et al., the Pennsylvania Superior Court found a hospital could seek indemnity or contribution toward a $17 million verdict rendered against it, from the employer of the doctors found liable for malpractice. Plaintiffs Alyssa McLaughlin and William McLaughlin sued two doctors over injuries Alyssa received while treating at The Washington Hospital (“TWH”). Plaintiffs...Read More

5th Circuit Rules that CGL Insurance Owes Coverage for Data Breach

On July 21, 2021, the Fifth Circuit, in Landry’s Inc. v. Ins. Co. of the State of Pa., issued a pivotal decision concerning coverage for a data breach under a commercial general liability policy. Significantly, the Fifth Circuit held a commercial general liability insurer was obligated to defend its insured in an action asserting breach of contract claims arising out of an alleged data breach....Read More

PA Supreme Deals Another Blow to Auto Insurers

Earlier this week the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an opinion responding to three separate questions certified by the Third Circuit of Appeals regarding the application of Pennsylvania’s Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law. See Donovan v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 17 EAP 2020 (Pa. Aug. 17, 2021). The certified questions included: (1) whether an insured’s signature on a waiver...Read More

Negligence After an Intentional Act Can Still Trigger Coverage (PA)

In a recent opinion, the Middle District of Pennsylvania held negligence after an intentional act, which would traditionally exclude coverage under an insurance policy, can still constitute an occurrence thus triggering an insurer’s duty to defend under a policy. The case, Nationwide General Insurance Company and Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company v. Gary DiBileo, Jr., Jerald Coyne, and...Read More

Failure to Preserve Surveillance Video Undercuts Key Defense Argument (PA)

A recent opinion in Nixon v. Family Dollar Stores of Pennsylvania, LLC, a slip and fall case from the Middle District of Pennsylvania, highlights the importance of preserving video surveillance, and the potentially dire consequences for failing to do so. In April 2018, Vanessa Nixon was shopping for a birthday card at a Family Dollar store in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, took five or six steps...Read More

Employment Liability Insurance Policies Unlikely to Cover Workplace Tort Claims Brought by Non-Employee Plaintiffs

In Penn Psych Center Inc. v. US Liability Ins. Co., a Pennsylvania state court addressed, for the first time, whether employment practices liability (EPL) insurance policies generally cover the costs of tort litigation brought against an employer and their employees by third-parties with no employment relationship to the insured. The underlying action involved a suit against Penn Psychiatric...Read More

PA Supreme Court Finds that a Corporation’s Owners Can Be Liable for Conduct of Sister Corporation

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently confronted a novel question: can a sister corporation’s owners be held personally liable for the actions of the corporation’s sister company? In Mortimer v. McCool, the plaintiff suffered severe and permanent injuries in a car collision after she had been struck by a drunk driver. She sued the restaurant that served the driver that struck her....Read More

New Guidance on Statute of Limitations in PA

On July 21, 2021, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Rice  v. Altoona-Johnston issued a pivotal decision concerning the applicable statute of limitations in Pennsylvania for claims stemming from alleged sexual abuse. By way of background, in 2016, Rice, after reviewing a PA Grand Jury Investigative report, which detailed findings that hundreds of children were victimized by over fifty...Read More

PA Appellate Court Clarifies Collateral Review Concerning In Camera Review of Disputed Discovery (PA)

On June 25, 2021, in Fisher v. Erie Ins. Exchange, the Superior Court clarified when a party had an immediately appealable right, pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 313, concerning the forced production of discovery materials for which a party asserts a privilege that the court denies. Typically, for an order to be considered a collateral order and therefore immediately appealable under Pa.R.A.P. 313, it...Read More

PA Landowner Avoids Liability for Snowmobile Crash, Snowmobile Club Not So Lucky

In Conway v. N.E.P. Sno Trails, Inc., the Court of Common Pleas of Lackawanna determined that a landowner could not be held liable for a snowmobiler’s injuries that occurred on its property. The court did, however, find that the snowmobile club the snowmobiler was a member of could be held liable. Plaintiff, Brent Conway, filed a negligence action against a snowmobile club and landowner after...Read More