Liberty Life Insurance Co. v. Commercial Union Insurance Co.
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
857 F.2d 945 (1988)
Facts
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (Metropolitan) sued Liberty Life Insurance Company (Liberty) (plaintiff) for trying to destroy Metropolitan’s business, in part by unfair competition that included enticing former Metropolitan insurance agents into slandering Metropolitan’s policies. Liberty sued Commercial Union Insurance Company and its other insurers (defendants) after all of them refused to defend Liberty against Metropolitan’s charges. Liberty’s policies insured Liberty against liability for unintentional occurrences resulting in personal injury or property damage. In addition, some of Liberty’s policies covered Liberty for intentional torts committed in the course of Liberty’s advertising activities. A federal district court ruled that Metropolitan’s personal-injury and property-damage claims did not trigger the insurers’ duties to defend or indemnify Liberty and entered summary judgment for Metropolitan. Liberty appealed to the Fourth Circuit.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Widener, J.)
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