Insurer Had No Duty to Defend Brick Company in Silica Wrongful Death Case

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A state appeals court has upheld an award of summary judgment to an insurer that refused to defend an insured found responsible for intentionally exposing one of its employees to silica dust. Altvater v. Ohio Casualty Insurance Company, et al., No. 02AP-422 (Ohio App. Ct., Tenth Dist.).

In a Sept. 9 decision, the Tenth District Ohio Court of Appeals found that insurer Ohio Casualty Insurance Company is not responsible for covering damages awarded to a brick worker exposed to silica while working at Claycraft Brick Factory because policies the insurer sold to Claycraft contained exclusions for bodily …