{"id":895682,"date":"2019-04-03T14:32:44","date_gmt":"2019-04-03T20:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=895682"},"modified":"2019-04-03T14:32:47","modified_gmt":"2019-04-03T20:32:47","slug":"dictionary-guides-multimillion-dollar-coverage-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/dictionary-guides-multimillion-dollar-coverage-dispute\/","title":{"rendered":"Dictionary Guides Court in Multimillion-Dollar Coverage Dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Janine Stanisz | Policyholder Pulse<\/a> | March 22, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A little under two years ago, we wrote about\u00a0the fatal Oxford comma<\/a>\u2014you know, the one that comes before \u201cand\u201d in a list\u2014and the impact of its omission on a court\u2019s interpretation of a Maine employment statute. The court effectively gave a $10 million lesson in grammar and ambiguity, but its holding was not revolutionary to a coverage attorney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When faced with insurance coverage interpretation questions, such as ambiguities or undefined terms, courts consistently apply well-known interpretation principles: (1) clear and unambiguous terms are given their plain and ordinary meaning; (2) where there are ambiguities, the policy should be interpreted against the insurer and in favor of coverage; and (3) exclusions must be narrowly construed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a case handled by this firm, the Eastern District of Virginia recently applied these principles and found that there was\u00a0coverage for the policyholder\u2019s loss, in part relying on the\u00a0Webster\u2019s Dictionary<\/em>\u00a0definition of \u201csmoke.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zenith sought coverage after a construction contractor failed to use water while operating a \u201cwet saw\u201d at Zenith\u2019s warehouse and caused clouds of concrete particulate to permeate the building. Allied initially acknowledged its coverage obligations, made a $5,000 payment, and then abruptly denied coverage based on the policy\u2019s pollution exclusion. The policy excluded coverage for losses resulting from the discharge of pollutants, defined as any \u201csolid, liquid, gaseous or thermal irritant or contaminant.\u201d However, the policy also contained an exception to that exclusion for instances where the release of a pollutant results in one of several \u201cspecified cause[s] of loss,\u201d including smoke. Allied argued the smoke exception did not apply because there was no documented fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judge Anthony Trenga analyzed whether clouds of concrete particulate could constitute \u201csmoke,\u201d such that the exception to the pollution exclusion would be triggered and coverage would be available. Noting that the policy did not define \u201csmoke,\u201d the court highlighted at least two different dictionary definitions of the term: \u201cthe gaseous products of burning materials\u201d and \u201ca suspension of particles in a gas.\u201d The court accordingly held that there was coverage for Zenith\u2019s loss because \u201c[t]he text and structure of the policy (including the other \u2018specified causes of loss\u2019) are insufficient to conclude that the parties intended to adopt the more narrow definition of \u2018smoke\u2019 for the purposes of the pollution exclusion.\u201d Rather, \u201c[w]ell-settled principles of Virginia insurance law \u2026 require the court to adopt the interpretation favoring coverage; \u2018smoke\u2019 as used in the policy refers to any visible suspension of particles in a gas, including the concrete dust suspended in ambient air in Zenith\u2019s warehouse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Policies do not always have exhaustive definition sections and often pivotal terms are left undefined, creating ambiguities. Here, when applying a plain and ordinary meaning of \u201csmoke,\u201d the court\u2019s analysis was guided at least in part by Merriam-Webster<\/em>. Better hold onto those dictionaries!<\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Janine Stanisz | Policyholder Pulse | March 22, 2019 A little under two years ago, we wrote about\u00a0the fatal Oxford comma\u2014you know, the one that comes before \u201cand\u201d in a list\u2014and the impact of its omission on a court\u2019s interpretation of a Maine employment statute. The court effectively gave a $10 million lesson in grammar… Continue reading Dictionary Guides Court in Multimillion-Dollar Coverage Dispute<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9914],"tags":[9895,10593],"class_list":["post-895682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insurance-coverage","tag-advise-consult","tag-insurance-coverage-disputes","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nDictionary Guides Court in Multimillion-Dollar Coverage Dispute - 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