Just because the president of a Kansas coal company apparently didn’t do his due diligence doesn’t mean an insurance company has to cover for him.
It’s the jist of a ruling by the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver which upheld a judge’s decision in favor of the Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company. The case stems from a black lung disease benefits filing by an employee of the former Clemons Coal company in Pittsburg, Kansas where Dennis Woolman was President.
Woolman failed to make sure a black-lung disease endorsement was part of the insurance coverage in the late 1990s before the company went bankrupt in 1997. Before bankruptcy, an employee filed a claim with the U.S. Labor Department after learning the company did not have insurance coverage for black-lung disease.
When Woolman sought coverage from Liberty Mutual, the insurance company took him to court where a judge ruled in support of Liberty Mutual. Woolman appealed and this week lost his battle in Denver.