• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Murphy and Grantland, P.A.

A civil defense law firm providing the highest quality of legal services with uncompromising integrity and uncommon value.

  • Our Law Firm
  • Our Attorneys
  • Practice Areas
  • News
  • Careers
    • Careers for Attorneys and Law Students
    • Careers in Legal Support
  • Contact Us

“State Farm Can’t Recover Hazing Injury Settlement Payment”

February 7, 2017

On January 25th, legal industry news outlet Law360 reported “State Farm Can’t Recover Hazing Injury Settlement Payment.”  Reporter Jeff Sistrunk wrote about the case that stemmed from an incident involving a Phi Beta Sigma alumni chapter in Florence that left a pledge with severe kidney injuries.

Murphy & Grantland attorneys Wesley B. Sawyer, J.R. Murphy and Timothy J. Newton represented Admiral Insurance Company.

WesleySawyer-600x600
Sawyer
JRMurphy-600x600 (002)
Murphy
TimNewton-600x600 (002)
Newton

An excerpt from Sistrunk’s report:

An insurer for the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity doesn’t have to pick up the tab for State Farm Fire and Casualty Co.’s costs to settle litigation against an alumnus who hosted hazing rituals that resulted in serious injuries to a pledge, a South Carolina federal judge ruled Wednesday, holding that a hazing exclusion clearly bars coverage for the incident.

 

According to State Farm, [a homeowner] was insured under the Admiral policy as a volunteer worker for Phi Beta Sigma. Admiral countered that [the homeowner] didn’t constitute a volunteer within the policy terms and added that, in any event, the hazing exclusion would apply to bar coverage.

The complete report from Law360.
(Case number 4:15-cv-02745 — U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.)


Murphy & Grantland attorneys represent businesses and professionals in broad variety of matters involving insurance coverage. M&G legal teams regularly defend insurers against bad faith claims and assist carriers by conducting investigations and defending lawsuits that involve arson, fraud, material misrepresentation and other misconduct.


Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • An update on our operations in light of COVID-19
  • M&G Welcomes Three Summer Law Clerks
  • A Word from J.R. Murphy regarding COVID-19
  • M&G Attorneys Lead ALFA Presentation
  • M&G Associate Alexis Blitch elected Vice President of SCDTAA Young Lawyer’s Division
Site Map | Disclaimer
Copyright © 2021 Murphy & Grantland, P.A.