Are You Covered For ADA Lawsuits? - a San Diego Law Firm ...

1 ;-~ "'000"'""",0 t'!!, b4k2:".;i,""",',,;ii ,'..~",.-"'--~.,,~~~~.~.w~.w,..,~~---"g: :::'v~"""'TItPaulHildingis a ). Harrison, , (CGl)policiesthatcover"bodilyinjury" , ,particularlywhenaccompaniedbyresultingp hysicalsymptoms, "personalinjury,"whichis oftendefinedtoinclude"wrongfulentry,wron gfulevictionorotherinvasionoftherightofp rivateoccupancy"and,sometimes,"discrimin ationorhumiliation"and"invasionofprivacy ."AnyofthispolicylanguagemayapplytoanADA claim,dependingonthespecificfactsoftheca se( ,tenantscomplainingofwrongfuleviction,cu s-tomerscomplainingofhumiliationordiscri mina-tion,andemployeescomplainingofinvas ionoftheirprivacyrights).Anumberofinsure rsroutinelydefendthesetypesofclaimsinSan Diegoandpayfortheplain-tiffs' ,obviously,theyhavenoobligationtoconduct a whetherinsurershavea dutytopayforremediationcosts, , ,theypointout,onlycoverthepolicyholderfo rsumsit is "legallyobligatedtopayasdamages.

2 "However,a convincingargumentthatADAreme-diationcos tsarecoveredcanbemadebyanalogytotheCalif orniaSupremeCourt' ('99 )5'Cal.] ,a "damages."Thecourttookaliberalviewofthe" asdamages"clause, ,thecourtfirstrejectedtheinsurer'sargume ntthat"legallyobligatedtopay" 'sargumentthat"asdam-ages" ,thecourtadoptedtheinsured'spositionhold ingthat"injunctionsrequiringremedialandm itigativeactionresultincoststhatconstitu te'damages'underCGlpolicies."( 'sargumentthatthecostofcomplyingwitha regula-torystatuteis (831-32).Thecourtalsorejectedtheinsurer' ,"Itwouldbeillogicalformitigationcostsno ttobecoveredandremedialcoststobecovered. "Idat( ).TheholdingoftheAIUcourthasbeenfollowed ILI2 LAWJOURNAL-~L."""'=-,*=mJ1 IPaulAHildingL'M." ,"'~i=";?;',",1<%i:8""'0:m:X,,,.,.iiw.:l ]Ii~!.Ii .:.Ii~JJ!""",.:.. :~.!~)tn.,;..':.. ~..,."..W"t'&lbl<o/&.*:~_('..,L,.,'~:;;; '~~~:,-';:~!'"'"i:!'":~::::!!!:::";".::' :'::::::::::::':::'::'.)

3 :';:(:;;::::;;;;;;::;::;;;:::':::'::::': :':'::::~:';:.::7.~=:::.'.. ,'.,.w:.,m:;vv",,:o:::::~"~::,,:"::,'::' :':=""'::':::~~=:'~:~:=:I,III] , ' (199Z) ,918(unpublisheddecision),thecourtheldth atthecostofcomplyingwithapotentialinjunc tiontoremedyracialdiscriminationis Covered "asdamages."Notingthatinjunc-tive costsincurredinredrawingdistrictlineswou ldbesimilartotheinjunctiveresponsecostsd iscussedinAIU,thecourtheldthatthecostsof complyingwithaninjunctiontoremedythedisc riminationwouldhavebeencoveredas"damages ,"whichthecitywas"legallyobligated" ( ) ,748.(Thepolicydefines"personalinjury"as includingdiscriminationandvio-lationofci vilrights,andarguablyincludescoveragefor injunctivereliefincivil-rightsandpersona l-injurycases.)UmbrellaPolidesManycompan iescarryumbrellapolicies, "discriminationandhumiliation," , (ffiO) ,inatleasttwocases, < ( ) ],1092(asOSBA explains".. "}.CanutiJ/oIndependentSchoolDistv.))

4 (sthOrTex.,1996) <}s~(" wouldbeliabletoindemnify(theinsured).. 'l~)"r!J~'EmploymentPracticesUabilltyPolidesInrecentyears,manycompanieshavebegunpurchasingemploymentpracticesliabilitypolicies(EPU).ThesepoliciescommonlycoverADAdiscriminationclaimsbyemployeesand,sometimes, , ,bycomparingtheexpressexclusionforreme-dialcostsintheEPLI policieswiththefailuretoexcludesuchcostsina company'sotherpolicies, , , , ,andthelanguageoftheapplicablepolicies,poli<. ~ :JL!~~~,~,~.":~~~Finn:HildingKipnisLyon6 KellyAddress:8910 UniversityCenterLane,Suite220,SanDiego,CA92122 Phone:(858)623-2326 Fax:(858)623-9114E-Mail:hildingii> "SUMMER2000I3