LUMBERMAN'S TOLD TO DEFEND "BAD SMELL" CASE

US insurer Lumberman's Mutual Casualty has been told that it must pay for the defence of New York Upper West Side eatery Barney Greengrass against an allegation that bad smells emanating from so-called "The Sturgeon King" forced a nearby resident to sell his apartment. New York Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald said that Lumberman's could not invoke a pollution exception, reported the New York Law Journal. She said that the allegedly noxious smells amounted to an insurable occurrence under New York law. The underlying litigation is currently in a state Civil Court. An attorney who owned a co-operative apartment in the building above the restaurant is alleging that the City of New York had issued several vent-related violations against Barney Greengrass Inc. In a complex case that now involves four parties, Barney Greengrass Inc has invoked its commercial liability policy, which Lumberman's claimed did not apply because of a clause that eliminated pollution. Judge Buchwald ruled that Lumberman's is liable for all defence costs incurred by Barney Greengrass Inc, including those already incurred in the underlying action. However, she said that it would be premature to rule on Lumberman's obligations should Barney Greengrass end up a loser in the main litigation.