J.M. Smucker Co. defeated a Chubb Ltd. unit’s efforts to reverse a district court’s finding that a peanut butter salmonella outbreak was a single “occurrence” in a liability coverage dispute involving thousands of consumer complaints.
Ohio state law and Ace American Insurance Co.’s two commercial general liability policies with Smucker’s consider the bacterial exposure one occurrence, instead of hundreds as the carrier argued under a lot endorsement, Judge Eugene E. Siler Jr. said in a Wednesday opinion for the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Under Ace’s reading of the two policies, Smucker’s would’ve had to pay defense …