The City of Williamsport is unable to rely on its current insurance to defend a federal lawsuit filed by a recently retired police officer who claims retaliation was the reason he was overlooked for promotion.
U.S. Middle District Judge Matthew W. Brann said in a ruling that “switching of insurance providers can prove tricky,” regarding insurance coverage of the suit by former Lt. Steven Helm, according to PennLive.
In the court documents, Brann said separate insurance policies — drafted by, and entered into with, different providers — may not necessarily align, creating gaps in coverage that can leave even the best-intentioned policyholders entirely exposed, the judge stated.
The city switched providers for its public entity liability insurance in January 2019. It was then sued in 2021 by Helm, who claimed retaliation based on prior suits he filed against the city in 2017 and 2018.
Accordingly, the officer filed the prior suits during the coverage period of the city’s former insurer, State National Insurance Company Inc.
He filed the 2021 suit during the coverage period of the city’s current insurer, The Charter Oak Fire Insurance Co. But the current insurer disclaims coverage for claims in any way factually connected to prior suits filed outside its coverage period.
The former insurer does not follow this same practice, and, critical here, disclaims any obligation to defend or indemnify the city for any future claims arising out of pending or prior litigation.
Read together, the Charter Oak and State National insurance policies leave the city “out of luck: Despite maintaining public entity liability insurance without interruption, the city has no coverage for the officer’s 2021 suit,” Brann wrote.
Brann denied the city’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and grants Charter Oak’s and State National’s cross motions seeking the same for the following reasons: On April 15, 2021, Helm sued Williamsport and its current and former mayors, Derek Slaughter and Gabriel Campana, alleging violations of his First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
According to Helm, between December 2018 and December 2020, he was repeatedly denied promotions within the police department because of prior lawsuits he filed against the city.
Specifically, Helm sued Williamsport and its police chief in April 2017 for violating his First Amendment freedom of association rights by allegedly retaliating against him for his activities as the president of the police officer’s union.
Helm then filed a second, one-count suit in November 2018, raising the same claim based on similar conduct.
Ultimately, Helm and Williamsport resolved these suits by settlement agreement.
But by filing these lawsuits, Helm claims, he became a marked man.
After the city police chief announced his retirement in the fall of 2018, then-Mayor Campana refused to elevate Helm to that position, Helm claims. Campana then repeatedly rejected efforts to install Helm as the assistant chief.
After Slaughter became mayor in January 2020, he followed suit, refusing to promote Helm to assistant chief or captain of the patrol division.
In Helm’s telling, current and former officers in the police department thought it was “obvious” that Helm should have been named chief in December 2018 and that he “was the most qualified person for the assistant chief and patrol division captain.”
Helm is seeking in excess of $50,000 in damages.
Clinton Mora is a reporter for Trending Insurance News. He has previously worked for the Forbes. As a contributor to Trending Insurance News, Clinton covers emerging a wide range of property and casualty insurance related stories.