KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Kmart Corp. (NYSE: KM) and
ITT Industries (NYSE: IIN) each filed declaratory judgment actions on Dec. 30
contending that property policies dating to 1996 should cover millions of
dollars spent remediating potential Year 2000 computer problems in internal
systems.
Mealey Publication's Year 2000 Report informed subscribers today in a
bulletin.
Kmart filed its suit in Wayne County, Mich., against Lexington Insurance
Company, which wrote primary policies from August 1997 through August 2000,
according to Kmart, and excess insurers who provided another $47.5 million per
occurrence during those years: Allianz Insurance Co.; American Empire Surplus
Lines Insurance Co.; Clarendon National Insurance Co.; Commonwealth Insurance
Co.; Essex Insurance Co.; First Specialty Insurance Corp.; GAN National
Insurance Co.; General Star Indemnity Co.; Investors Insurance Company of
America; Mt. Hawley Insurance Co.; Reliance Insurance Company of Illinois;
The Travelers Indemnity Company of Illinois; and Zurich American Insurance Co.
Kmart has estimated its costs at $80 million.
ITT Industries, which said it spent $19.5 million, filed the same day in
state courts in Indiana and New York. The New York action named Factory
Mutual Insurance Co., successor to Allendale Mutual Insurance Co.; American
Guarantee and Liability Insurance Co.; Industrial Risk Insurers, and Gail
Norstrom and/or "John Doe" as president and/or treasurer of Industrial Risk
Insurers. The Indiana action named Factory Mutual, again as successor to
Allendale Mutual; Allianz Insurance Co.; AIU Insurance Co.; Zurich American
Insurance Co.; Royal Insurance Company of America; and Continental Casualty
Co.
Attorneys at the Washington, D.C., office of McKenna & Cuneo are of
counsel in the three lawsuits.
Similar coverage actions have been filed within the past eight months by
Xerox, Nike, GTE, Unisys, the Port of Seattle and the School District of the
City of Royal Oak (Mich.). Proceedings in those actions have been covered
extensively by Mealey's.
Full coverage of this and other activity in Year 2000 litigation will be
featured in this month's issue of Mealey's Year 2000 Report. For a free
sample of the report, call 1-800-MEALEYS, 610-767-7800 or e-mail:
news@mealeys.com, or http://www.mealeys.com.
In addition to Year 2000 issues, Mealey's of King of Prussia, Pa.,
publishes litigation newsletters on asbestos; lead paint exposure,
construction defect litigation; cyberlaw and technology insurance; drugs and
medical devices, insurance coverage; bad faith; breast implants; pollution and
Superfund; toxic torts; fen-phen and diet drugs; tobacco; insurance fraud,
insurance insolvency; latex, patents and intellectual property; managed care;
expert admissibility (Daubert) and international arbitration.
Mealey's also sponsors conference on many of these same subjects. Upcoming
seminars include: Insurance Bad Faith, Jan. 27-28 in Naples, Fla.; Asbestos
Litigation 101: A Practical Introduction, Feb. 28-29 in Arlington, Va.;
Attorney Fees, March 16-17 in Arlington; Fen-Phen Litigation, March 16-17 in
West Palm Beach; Insurance Fraud, March 23-24 in Phoenix and Lead Paint
Litigation, April 3-4 in Amelia Island, Fla. Information: 1-800-MEALEYS;
610-768-7800; seminars@mealeys.com or http://www.mealeys.com.
Information: 1-800-MEALEYS or seminars@mealeys.com.
SOURCE Mealey Publications
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Related links:
http://www.mealeys.com
CONTACT:
John Hayes of Mealey Publications,
610-768-7800
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