Employers face liability in a variety of contexts; however, commercial general liability (“CGL”) policies “generally exclude coverage for injury to an employee ‘arising out of and in the course of’ the employment.” In addition, CGL policies typically “exclude[] loss for ‘any obligation of the insured under a workers compensation, disability benefits or unemployment compensation law or any similar law.’” There are coverages available, however, to address these exclusions. For instance, “[e]mployers’ liability insurance is traditionally written in conjunction with workers’ compensation insurance and is intended to fill gaps by providing protection in those situations in which [an] employee has a right to bring [a] tort action despite provisions of [a]’ compensation statute, or [the] employee is not subject to workers’ compensation law....”Additionally, employment practices liability (“EPL”) coverage provides “protection against such claims as wrongful discharge from employment, discrimination, and sexual harassment.”

The articles in this edition highlight issues associates with employers’ liability and EPL insurance. What trends are emerging in employment litigation, which could implicate EPL coverage? What are the common exclusions to employers’ liability insurance? How have courts analyzed language in employers’ liability policies? The articles herein will provide you with a “FirstLook” at these forms of insurance.