Hanover Insurance Unit Seeks to Duck Suit Over Cadaver Abuse

A Hanover Insurance Group Inc. subsidiary is suing a Chicago organization that facilitates human body donations to medical schools, seeking to avoid paying defense costs in litigation alleging an employee used a severed head to intimidate a colleague.

The underlying suit filed against the Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois alleges one of its employees mishandled donated remains by detaching the head of a body and placing it on a co-worker’s desk.

Various provisions in a nonprofit entity insurance policy preclude coverage for the underlying suit, including exclusions for claims based on professional services, medical services, contractual liability, and emotional distress, ...