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BOTH INSURANCE POLICIES WERE DEEMED TO COVER SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIMS AGAINST AN EMPLOYER AND ITS EMPLOYEE BROUGHT BY SEVERAL CO-EMPLOYEES SPANNING YEARS AND DIFFERENT WORKPLACES; THE POLICY LANGUAGE DID NOT RESTRICT THE COVERAGE FOR “RELATED” OR “INTERRELATED ACTS” TO A SINGLE PLAINTIFF (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Singh, determined the language of the two insurance policies covered sexual harassment claims against an employer and its employee brought by several co-employees spanning years and different workplaces. The case is fact-specific and turned on the contractual definition of “related wrongful acts” in one policy and “interrelated wrongful acts” under the other policy:

Nothing in the language of either policy restricts Related or Interrelated Wrongful Acts to those harming the same plaintiff. * * *

… [I] both policies, common facts and common causation are presented in the disjunctive. Shared causation is necessary only in that the allegations must “aris[e] from” the “common nexus or nucleus of facts.” “In insurance contracts, the phrase ‘arising out of’ is ordinarily understood to mean originating from, incident to, or having connection with. It requires only that there be some causal relationship between the injury and the risk for which coverage is provided or excluded” … . * * * Zurich Am. Ins. Co. v Giorgio Armani Corp., 2025 NY Slip Op 01335, First Dept 3-11-25

Practice Point: The language used in an insurance policy determines the coverage. Here the policy language was such that it covered sexual harassment claims spanning years and different workplaces brought by several plaintiffs as “related” or “interrelated acts.”

 

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