Description: Fossil fuel company's lawsuit against insurer for breaching its obligations to defend and indemnify the company in underlying climate change cases brought by Honolulu and Maui.
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Aloha Petroleum Ltd. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 09/05/2023 Order Download Order issued certifying questions to the Hawai'i Supreme Court. Federal Court Asked Hawai‘i Supreme Court to Weigh in on Legal Questions Related to Insurers’ Duty to Defend Energy Company in Honolulu and Maui Climate Cases. In an energy company’s lawsuit asserting that its insurers had breached their duty to defend the company in Maui’s and Honolulu’s cases seeking to hold fossil fuel companies liable for climate change impacts, the federal district court for the District of Hawaii certified two questions of Hawai‘i law to the Hawai‘i Supreme Court: (1) For any insurance policy defining a covered “occurrence” in part as an “accident,” can an “accident” include recklessness? and (2) For an “occurrence” insurance policy excluding coverage of “pollution” damages, are greenhouse gases “pollutants,” i.e., “gaseous” “irritant[s] or contaminant[s], including smoke, vapor, soot, fumes, acids, alkalis, chemicals and waste”? Regarding whether greenhouse gases constituted pollutants, the energy company argued for a distinction between greenhouse gases and “traditional environmental pollution.” 08/16/2023 Reply Download Reply filed by defendants in support of their motion for partial summary judgment. 08/16/2023 Reply Download Reply filed in support of Aloha Petroleum, Ltd.'s motion for partial summary judgment on the duty to defend. 07/17/2023 Opposition Download Memorandum filed by Aloha Petroleum, Ltd. in opposition to defendants' motion for partial summary judgment. 07/17/2023 Opposition Download Memorandum filed by National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pa. and American Home Assurance Company in opposition to Aloha Petroleum, Ltd.'s motion for partial summary judgment on the duty to defend. 06/02/2023 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Memorandum filed by plaintiff in support of motion for partial summary judgment. 06/02/2023 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Memorandum filed in support of insurers' motion for partial summary judgment. 04/28/2023 Complaint Download First amended complaint filed. 08/10/2022 Complaint Download Complaint filed. Fossil Fuel Company Alleged Insurer Breached Duties to Defend and Indemnify in Climate Cases. A fossil fuel company defendant in Honolulu’s and Maui’s climate change lawsuits filed an action for breach of contract and declaratory relief against its insurer for failing to provide coverage in the Honolulu and Maui actions. The fossil fuel company said the insurer had incorrectly asserted that the qualified pollution exclusion of a 1985 commercial general liability insurance policy precluded defense and indemnity coverage in the underlying actions. The defendant alleged that it had incurred more than $880,000 in defense costs in connection with the underlying lawsuits and that it expected to continue to incur significant defense costs.