HNRK Coverage Corner

Last month an Oregon federal court held that the phrase “and/or” in a communicable disease exclusion was ambiguous and denied an insurer’s bid for summary judgment. For coverage counsel, the opinion in Scottsdale Insurance Co. v. Bruce Packing Co., Inc. provides an interesting analysis of whether a listeria outbreak is both “infectious” and “contagious”—and for lawyers in nearly every practice area, it’s a reminder that precision in contract language is important. 

Background

Bruce Packing Co. operated meat processing facilities. In 2024, the U.S ...

Last month, the Eighth Circuit held that a policyholder that failed to notify its insurers about an explosion at an oil well within the timeframe specified in an exception to the pollution exclusion could not invoke that exception even where the insurers did not object to the late notice when they denied the insurance claim. 

In XTO Energy, Inc. v. Commerce & Industry Insurance Co., the court reversed a $25 million judgment for the policyholder, holding that a North Dakota law that insurers waive a late notice defense if they do not make “prompt and specific objection” to the late ...