Lawsuit filed against Zurich over Las Vegas festival shooting
MGM Resorts claims Zurich breached its contract when it failed to pay defense costs related to lawsuits it faced after the Route 91 Harvest shooting.
MGM Resorts has filed a lawsuit against Zurich American Insurance Company for coverage related to the Route 91 Harvest festival shooting in October 2017, which resulted in the deaths of 58 victims. The casino company alleges the insurer breached its contract when it failed to pay defense costs for lawsuits that were filed against MGM following the shooting.
More than 4,000 people are seeking compensation, the lawsuit said.
According to MGM, which owns the Mandalay Bay Hotel where the shooting occurred, Zurich promised to defend the company from claims and lawsuits alleging bodily injury or property damage through a primary commercial general liability policy.
Brent Allen, president of Allen Financial Insurance Group, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that because general liability insurance policies cover many areas, most come with a long list of exclusions, and the case against Zurich is a matter of coverage policy interpretation. “MGM is now faced with paying all their defense costs, and they don’t like it,” Allen said.
The case
The lawsuit seeks compensation for damages suffered from the alleged breach of contract, including litigation defense costs. MGM claims the unpaid defense costs total in the ”many millions of dollars.”
However, it’s up to MGM to prove Zurich was in breach of contract and acted in bad faith, Allen told the Review-Journal, saying, “MGM has to show where, because it’s in a contract, where Zurich has knowingly violated the terms of the insurance agreement.”
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