Defense Verdict in New York County with Respect to Labor Law Liability

The matter involved a declaratory judgment action between two insurance carriers following their contributions totaling nearly $2 million toward the settlement of a Labor Law case. We represented the underlying plaintiff's employer in the case. After the parties' summary judgment motions were denied, the New York Supreme Court judge in New York County held a bench trial on the sole issues of "claim handling" by the carrier and our client's alleged liability under the Labor Law. Factually, it was a difficult task to prove that the insured was not at least partly liable under the Labor Law. Nonetheless, the court found there could be no valid claims by the carrier as against our client.