Pollution Clause Revives Legionnaires’ Disease Claims

A detailed pollution exclusion clause doesn’t excuse an insurance company from defending Legionnaires’ Disease claims when it wasn’t clear the contaminant at issue—bacteria—was among those specified in the policy, a Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled Oct. 15 (Connors v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 2015 BL 339011, Wis. Ct. App., 2014AP2990, 10/15/15).

The ruling reverses a summary judgment for Charter Oak Fire Insurance Co. and revives the negligence case of Patrick Connors, who alleges his pneumonia was caused by occupational exposure to Legionella pneumophila bacteria at Grede Foundries in Reedsburg, Wis.

The bacteria “are not obviously in the ...