La. Court Says Injury May Have Occurred During Earlier Policy Periods

NEW ORLEANS - Applying trigger-of-coverage guidelines from church molestation and asbestos cases, a Louisiana federal judge has denied summary judgment to an insurer that argued its policy period pre-dated a family's exposure to mold. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Ravannack, No. 00-1209 (E.D. La.).

The March 31 order by Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana was not dispositive of claims by James E. and Jocel Ravannack against Scottsdale Insurance Co., which insured a defendant plasterer.

The Ravannacks contend that they and their children have been harmed by exposure …