Appellate Division affirms the grant of summary judgment for defendant and denial of plaintiffs’ cross-motion for summary judgment.

An employee of one of New Town’s contractors was injured while working on one of the plaintiffs’ properties. A workers’ compensation claim was filed against New Town, which was forwarded to the defendant, who denied it under the “Bodily Injury Exclusion” (L-500). The injured worker sued the plaintiff, while the defendant continued to deny coverage. Summary judgment motions were filed by both parties, with the plaintiffs arguing this exclusion did not apply as the “Independent Contractors/Subcontractors Exclusion” (L-278) and “Exclusion – Construction Operations” (L-532) exclusions controlled. They argued that the defendant’s interpretation of the policy would render these two exclusions pointless, that the defendant should defend and indemnity the worker’s claim, and that a layperson reading the policy would not discern there was no coverage for the worker’s injury.

Judge Jeffrey Beacham heard these motions and found the L-500 exclusion—with a clear intent to exclude coverage for workplace accidents—was more specific than the other two. He also noted the other two exclusions did not “obviate” L-500 and that there was no confusion in the policy.

The plaintiffs appealed, and the Appellate Division reviewed de novo.  The interpretation of an insurance policy  is a legal question. After thoroughly reviewing the record and relevant case law, the Appellate Division affirmed Judge Beacham’s orders and concluded the policy was not ambiguous and the L-500 exclusion applied to the worker’s claims.

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