Insurer Must Defend Despite Your Product/Your Work Exclusion

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has reversed the decision of a lower court and held that an insurer must defend a roofing manufacturer in litigation in which the company’s roof membrane system allegedly caused additional damage to a Bronx high school. The case is Siplast, Inc. v. Emps Mut. Cas. Co., No. 20-11076, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 795 (5th Cir. Jan. 11, 2022).

The duty-to-defend case stems from an underlying lawsuit filed by the Archdiocese of New York and other plaintiffs including Siplast Inc, a roof manufacturer, which had sold a roof membrane system to a Bronx high school in 2012. According to the ruling, Siplast provided a 20-year guarantee for the work.