Cases brought by stoneworkers alleging chronic illnesses linked to silica and other substances could be covered under liability insurance policies, a California federal judge said.
Exclusions for silica-related claims didn’t unambiguously bar coverage, Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani of the US District Court for the Central District of California said in a series of orders in separate disputes between artificial stone companies and their insurers, upending a previous ruling. She considered motions in several of the cases concurrently, and issued similar—but separate—rulings in each case.
The rulings mean some insurers, including units of