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The city of Santa Monica is suing several insurance companies for alleged breach of contract to pay in full defense costs and reimburse the city for millions of dollars in expenses related to lawsuits filed by young victims of sexual abuse by a Police Activities League volunteer who later committed suicide.
The lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court was filed Thursday against Insurance Co. of the State of Pennsylvania, Insurance Co. of the West, Lexington Insurance Co., Axis Surplus Insurance Co., Arch Specialty Insurance Co., and TIG Insurance Co. submitted.
A representative from Insurance Co. of the West did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since the fall of 2018, the city has faced dozens of lawsuits and lawsuits from over 100 PAL attendees alleging they were sexually abused by the late Eric Uller, the lawsuit said.
Uller killed himself in November 2018 after being charged with molesting four boys.
Each of the insurers was and is required to defend and / or indemnify the city against the Uller lawsuits, but none of them did so in full, the lawsuit alleges.
“Without the help of the defendants, the city has been wrongly forced to spend over $ 100 million of its own much-needed resources on defending and settling claims in the … litigation,” the lawsuit states.
The city is asking a judge to order insurers to comply with their alleged obligations to the city, as well as a statement of the rights, obligations and liabilities of the parties in relation to the litigation.
The city is also demanding damages and other legal remedies “for the damage caused by the defendants’ breach of their contractual and other obligations, including punitive damages in an amount to prevent similar bad faith behavior by the defendants in the future,” says the Legal action.
Santa Monica is suing insurers for costs of defending sexual abuse cases was last changed: October 1, 2021 from
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