Insurer Must Defend Energy Company In Class-Action Earthquake Lawsuit

An insurance company policy’s boilerplate exclusionary language is the latest victim of salt-water induced earthquakes in Oklahoma.

That’s the result of a ruling handed down this month by Oklahoma’s Court of Civil Appeals, and that ruling could impact many dozens of energy companies being targeted by class action lawsuits over the issue and the insurance companies that cover their liabilities.

In an appeal brought to the court by Mid-Continent Casualty Co., judges ruled it must honor a client’s request to defend it as part of a class-action lawsuit related to the earthquakes that was filed in Payne County.

An initial ruling requiring it to defend Oklahoma City-based Crown Energy in the litigation was issued by a district court judge in Oklahoma County.

Crown sued Mid-Continent after it had denied the producer’s requests to defend it under two general liability policies that were in force over the period of time the Payne County lawsuit covers.