Cava, v. Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh

Fluker filed a lawsuit against Cava Toyota World on April 3, 2009, alleging that he was wrongfully terminated from his employment. The defendants reported the lawsuit to their insurance carrier, National Union, four days later, but National Union did not respond until November 11, 2009, when it sent a denial of coverage letter. The defendants defended the lawsuit without the assistance of their insurance carrier and sought to file a third-party complaint against National Union, asserting common law “bad faith” and violations of the West Virginia Unfair Trade Practices Act , arising from the denial of coverage. The third-party complaint did not seek a finding that there was coverage under the National Union policy or request that the court find coverage and order National Union to defend the lawsuit. The trial court entered summary judgment for National Union, finding that the claims contained in the third-party complaint were not derivative of the claims asserted in the underlying lawsuit. The West Virginia Supreme Court affirmed. View "Cava, v. Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh" on Justia Law