On November 12, 2024, John Baldante was featured in the New Jersey Law Journal article “Who Should Pay? Insurer Wants No Part of $30M Sexual Abuse Settlement” concerning the case that he litigated with Daniella Price against the Petrov Ballet School. Markel insurance Co., the insurer that provided insurance coverage to Petrov Ballet School, has filed a declaratory judgment suit claiming that they will not pay the ballet school’s $30 million sexual abuse judgment. The insurance company claims that it is not responsible for the judgment in the case because its policy language disclaimed coverage for sexual abuse and molestation.
“Our position is that the language attempting to disclaim coverage in the umbrella policies permits aspects of the claims that we registered against the Petrov Ballet School and that, in particular, employees other than the perpetrator himself, such as the ballet school’s administrative director, who happened to have been the perpetrator’s wife, and the various ballet school teachers had, under New Jersey law, a nondelegable duty to protect children from child sexual abuse,” Baldante said in the article, “And that nondelegable duty was violated because they did not protect these children from child sexual abuse, and that is covered under the umbrella policies that were provided by Markel Insurance Co.”
Markel Insurance Co. has around $8 million in coverage and could be held liable for the $30 million consent judgment because it was given a chance to tender its policy limits at the outset of the case.
To read this article, please click on the following link. If you have any questions about this case, please reach out to John Baldante at baldante@brattorneys.com.