During a strike recently at our insured's plant, a covered auto driven by one of the insured's employees struck a picketer. The picketer was also an employee of the insured. Would the business auto policy of our insured apply to a claim for bodily injury, or would the exclusions dealing with “arising out of and in the course of” employment eliminate coverage?

Pennsylvania Subscriber

The relevant exclusions are numbers four and five on the business auto policy (BAP); exclusion four pertains to employer liability and exclusion five pertains to injury to a fellow employee. Both exclusions emphasize the “arising out of and in the course of” employment language, and then follow up with the “performing duties related to the conduct of the insured's business” phrase. These phrases make the point that bodily injury to an employee while in the furtherance of the insured's business is not meant to be covered under a auto policy. It would be a stretch to consider someone on strike to be engaged in the furtherance of the insured's business.