Union Mutual Loses Fire Damage Fight With New York Caribbean Store

A New York Caribbean food market defeated Union Mutual Fire Insurance Co.'s demand for reimbursement of $1.5 million in fire damage losses after the insurer failed to show the market’s negligence caused the fire.

Union Mutual presented no evidence that ACE Caribbean Market’s alleged misuse of extension cords caused a fire that damaged nearby buildings insured by Union Mutual, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said in a decision penned by Judge Guido Calabresi.

The lawsuit stems from a March 2017 fire that erupted in the Queens store and destroyed neighboring buildings. Fire marshals from the New ...