AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Bollea v. gawker media11/21/2023 ![]() Similarly, the goal of deterrence in awarding punitive damages would be undermined if insurance covers punitive awards. If an entity will not suffer any financial ramifications for invading another’s privacy, then there is little incentive to avoid doing so. For instance, French writes, allowing such coverage would undermine the goal of discouraging such torts in the first place. Still, there are public policy arguments against allowing insurance to cover intentional torts. “Specifically, under such policies, the insurer agrees to ‘pay those sums that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages’ because of ‘oral or written publication, in any manner, of material that violates a person’s right of privacy.’”įrench notes that Gawker reportedly only purchased $1 million in CGL insurance, which he calls “a surprisingly low amount for a business that annually generates approximately $45 million in advertising revenue and is regularly sued.” “Under the Personal and Advertising Liability coverage provisions of standard form Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies, numerous types of intentional torts, including claims for invasion of privacy, are covered,” French writes. In “ Sex, Videos, and Insurance: How Gawker Could Have Avoided Financial Responsibility for the $140 Million Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Verdict,” published in the Southern California Law Review Postscript, French explains why conventional wisdom that insurance does not cover punitive damages and intentional torts like invasion of privacy-and that public policy does not allow such coverage-is wrong. The verdict ultimately caused Gawker to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and go up for sale.Īccording to French, however, the company could have avoided paying the damages and its eventual bankruptcy if it had simply purchased sufficient liability insurance. Gawker, awarding Hogan $55 million in compensatory damages, $60 million for emotional distress, and $25 million in punitive damages. In March, a jury delivered a verdict in Bollea v. The wrestler, using his legal name, Terry Bollea, sued Gawker in a Florida court for invading his privacy when the company published a sex tape online featuring Hogan. French in a recently published law review article. – Adequate insurance coverage would have allowed Gawker to avoid paying any of the $140 million a jury awarded former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan in his invasion of privacy case against the media company, argues Penn State Law visiting assistant professor of law Christopher C.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |