Nautilus Insurance Company asked the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to declare that an exclusion in the insured's insurance policy with Nautilus for claims arising out of an assault or battery, including a failure to prevent or suppress an assault or battery, exempted it from any duty to defend and indemnify the insured in the suit. (Photo: Shutterstock)
An insurance company did not have to defend or indemnify its insured in a lawsuit brought by a female minor alleging that the insured failed to intervene or report that sex traffickers had enticed her to engage in commercial sex acts at the insured's motel, a court ruled.
The lawsuit
E.B., a minor female, sued Motel Management Services ("MMS") and other motel operators in Pennsylvania state court, alleging that:
- She "was recruited, enticed, solicited, harbored and/or transported to engage in commercial sex acts," including at a motel owned and operated by MMS;
- She was "held at gun point and threatened to engage in sexual acts with multiple traffickers," "visibly treated in an aggressive manner" by those engaging in commercial sex acts with her, and suffered physical harm;
- MMS facilitated her exploitation by knowingly renting rooms at its motel to the traffickers;
- MMS failed to intervene or to report the traffickers' illegal conduct; and
- MMS financially profited from E.B.'s exploitation.
E.B. sought compensatory and punitive damages for negligence per se, negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].
