Bankruptcy Court Determines “Occurrence” Coverage Issue in Duluth Diocese Abuse Claims

In a ruling issued March 30, 2017, Judge Robert Kressel determined that under the “actual- injury” rule, the occurrence “is the time when the victims were sexually abused” and not when the victims were exposed to priests prone to abuse. According to the Court, “[i]f the policy provides coverage, each occurrence is determined per-victim, per-priest and per-policy period, subject to other contractual limitations on the definition of occurrence.”