City Cannot Recoup $1.4 Million in Asbestos Defense Costs from Insurer, 9th Cir. Says

SAN FRANCISCO — The City of Phoenix cannot recoup $1.4 million in asbestos defense costs from its insurer, Hartford Insurance Co., because the city failed to exhaust the $500,000 underlying limit of its excess policies, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled.

In an April 4 memorandum, the appellate court further held that because the excess policies’ limit was not exhausted, the City is not entitled to indemnity under the Hartford umbrella policies.

Carlos Tarazon was exposed to asbestos through his work as an underground pipe layer in the City of Phoenix from 1968 to 1993 and …