Courts Must Never Speculate About Facts Not in Evidence
Post 5192
See the full video at https://rumble.com/v6z2r2s-duty-to-defend-is-not-without-limit.html and at https://youtu.be/3hhYFmKmGmA, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5,150 posts.
Injuries to Others at McDonald’s Do Not Provide Duty to Defend Suit by Employee Who Did Not Incur Bodily Injury
in McdDonald’s Corporation, et al v. Homeland Insurance Company Of New York, No. 23 C 16297, United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division (September 10, 2025) McDonald’s Corporation and McDonald’s USA LLC (collectively, “McDonald’s”) sued Defendant Homeland Insurance Company of New York (“Homeland”) challenging Homeland’s denial of coverage under a commercial general liability insurance policy.
BACKGROUND
A McDonald’s franchisee operated the McDonald’s restaurant (“Restaurant”) located in Chicago, Illinois. (hereinafter, “PRSOF”). From March 1, 2015 through March 1, 2018, the franchisee maintained a commercial general liability policy (“Policy”) issued by Homeland.
Section I of the Policy provides: “We will pay those sums that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of ‘bodily injury’ or ‘property damage’ to which this insurance applies.” Importantly, the Policy dictates that a bodily injury is covered only if takes place during the policy period, i.e., March 1, 2015, through March 1, 2018.
McDonald’s attempted to utilize the Policy after being sued by a Restaurant employee in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Sonia Acuna, et al. v. McDonalds, et al., No. 2019 CH 13477 (“Underlying Action”). Ultimately, Acuna was a party to four different complaints in the Underlying Action; her participation culminated with the filing of the third amended complaint on July 19, 2021. Since Acuna was the sole plaintiff in the Underlying Action who worked at the Restaurant, only her specific claims are relevant to this dispute.
After evaluating the lawsuit and the Policy, Homeland denied coverage because Acuna did not allege any “bodily injury” during the policy period.
DISCUSSION
The factual allegations in the amended complaint state a vicarious liability claim that falls within the coverage of the insurance policy, and therefore, plaintiff’s amended complaint was not an improper or unsupported attempt to plead into coverage.
The Operative Complaint includes allegations of specific incidents involving Acuna, which McDonald’s concedes cannot trigger Homeland’s duty to defend because they occurred outside the policy period, and more generalized allegations of harm.
An insurer has a duty to defend when the complaint’s allegations fall within or potentially fall within the coverage provisions of the policy. Because a complaint need not allege or use language affirmatively bringing the claims within the scope of the policy, the duty to defend is broader than the duty to indemnify.
The duty to defend depends on the facts underlying a complaint, not the specific legal theory on which the plaintiffs base their claims. Illinois courts follow the so-called “eight-corners rule” where courts determine the duty to defend by looking only within the four corners of the insurance policy and the four corners of the complaint for which defense is sought.
The insurer’s duty to defend, while broad, is not without limits. Notwithstanding the breadth of the duty, the claim against the insured must still contain explicit factual allegations that potentially fall within policy coverage. While the Court must examine the underlying claims with care, it cannot read into the complaint facts that are not there.
Generalized allegations are not enough
The gist of Acuna’s claims is that witnessing bodily injury inflicted on others resulted in psychological harm to her. The Operative Complaint, and all preceding complaints for that matter, were devoid of facts establishing that Acuna sought damages for a covered bodily injury that occurred during the policy period.
A Court may not find a duty to defend based on conjecture. The duty to defend may be broad, but Illinois law does not permit the court to speculate about possible factual scenarios that are absent from the claim itself. Even if it could, second-hand injuries such as fear and emotional distress caused by viewing other persons’ bodily injuries are simply not covered by the Policy.
Therefore the Court found no duty to defend and granted summary judgment in favor of Homeland.
ZALMA OPINION
The Illinois 8 corners rule made the decision of the Court obvious because the allegations of the complaint by Ms. Acuna did not fit the definitions of injury within the policy’s effective dates. Since there must be a bodily injury within the policy’s effective dates and no evidence existed the court properly refused to speculate and granted Homeland’s summary judgment.
(c) 2025 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.
Please tell your friends and colleagues about this blog and the videos and let them subscribe to the blog and the videos.
Subscribe to my substack at https://barryzalma.substack.com/subscribe
Go to X @bzalma; Go to Barry Zalma videos at Rumble.com at https://rumble.com/account/content?type=all; Go to Barry Zalma on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysiZklEtxZsSF9DfC0Expg; Go to the Insurance Claims Library – https://lnkd.in/gwEYk.
Convicted Criminal Seeks to Compel Receiver to Protect his Assets
Post number 5291
See the video at and at and at https://www.zalma.com/blog plus more than 5250 posts.
The Work of a Court Appointed Receiver is Constitutionally Protected
In Simon Semaan et al. v. Robert P. Mosier et al., G064385, California Court of Appeals, Fourth District, Third Division (February 6, 2026) the Court of Appeals applied the California anti-SLAPP statute which protects defendants from meritless lawsuits arising from constitutionally protected activities, including those performed in official capacities. The court also considered the doctrine of quasi-judicial immunity, which shields court-appointed receivers from liability for discretionary acts performed within their official duties.
Facts
In September 2021, the State of California filed felony charges against Simon Semaan, alleging violations of Insurance Code section 11760(a) for making...
When There are Two Different Other Insurance Clauses They Eliminate Each Other and Both Insurers Owe Indemnity Equally
Post number 5289
In Great West Casualty Co. v. Nationwide Agribusiness Insurance Co., and Conserv FS, Inc., and Timothy A. Brennan, as Administrator of the Estate of Pat- rick J. Brennan, deceased, Nos. 24-1258, 24-1259, United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit (February 11, 2026) the USCA was required to resolve a dispute that arose when a tractor-trailer operated by Robert D. Fisher (agent of Deerpass Farms Trucking, LLC-II) was involved in a side-impact collision with an SUV driven by Patrick J. Brennan, resulting in Brennan’s death.
Facts
Deerpass Trucking, an interstate motor carrier, leased the tractor from Deerpass Farms Services, LLC, and hauled cargo for Conserv FS, Inc. under a trailer interchange agreement. The tractor was insured by Great West Casualty Company with a $1 million policy limit, while the trailer was insured by Nationwide Agribusiness Insurance Company with a $2 million ...
Opiod Producer Seeks Indemnity from CGL Insurers
Post number 5288
Read the full article at https://lnkd.in/guNhStN2, see the full video at https://lnkd.in/gYqkk-n3 and at https://lnkd.in/g8U3ehuc, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5250 posts.
Insurers Exclude Damages Due to Insured’s Products
In Matthew Dundon, As The Trustee Of The Endo General Unsecured Creditors’ Trust v. ACE Property And Casualty Insurance Company, et al., Civil Action No. 24-4221, United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania (February 10, 2026) Matthew Dundon, trustee of the Endo General Unsecured Creditors’ Trust, sued multiple commercial general liability (CGL) insurers for coverage of opioid-related litigation involving Endo International PLC a pharmaceutical manufacturer.
KEY FACTS
Beginning as early as 2014, thousands of opioid suits were filed by governments, third parties, and individuals alleging harms tied to opioid manufacturing and marketing.
Bankruptcy & Settlements
Endo filed Chapter 11 in August 2022; before bankruptcy it ...
Passover for Americans
Posted on February 19, 2026 by Barry Zalma
“The Passover Seder For Americans”
For more than 3,000 years Jewish fathers have told the story of the Exodus of the enslaved Jews from Egypt. Telling the story has been required of all Jewish fathers. Americans, who have lived in North America for more than 300 years have become Americans and many have lost the ability to read, write and understand the Hebrew language in which the story of Passover was first told in the Torah. Passover is one of the many holidays Jewish People celebrate to help them remember the importance of G_d in their lives. We see the animals, the oceans, the rivers, the mountains, the rain, sun, the planets, the stars, and the people and wonder how did all these wonderful things come into being. Jews believe the force we call G_d created the entire universe and everything in it. Jews feel G_d is all seeing and knowing and although we can’t see Him, He is everywhere and in everyone.We understand...
Passover for Americans
Posted on February 19, 2026 by Barry Zalma
Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/passover-americans-barry-zalma-esq-cfe-5vgkc.
“The Passover Seder For Americans”
For more than 3,000 years Jewish fathers have told the story of the Exodus of the enslaved Jews from Egypt. Telling the story has been required of all Jewish fathers. Americans, who have lived in North America for more than 300 years have become Americans and many have lostthe ability to read, write and understand the Hebrew language in which the story of Passover was first told in the Torah.
Passover is one of the many holidays Jewish People celebrate to help them remember the importance of G_d in their lives. We see the animals, the oceans, the rivers, the mountains, the rain, sun, the planets, the stars, and the people and ...
You Get What You Pay For – Less Coverage Means Lower Premium
Post number 5275
Posted on January 30, 2026 by Barry Zalma
See the video at and at
When Experts for Both Sides Agree That Two Causes Concur to Cause a Wall to Collapse Exclusion Applies
In Lido Hospitality, Inc. v. AIX Specialty Insurance Company, No. 1-24-1465, 2026 IL App (1st) 241465-U, Court of Appeals of Illinois (January 27, 2026) resolved the effect of an anti-concurrent cause exclusion to a loss with more than one cause.
Facts and Background
Lido Hospitality, Inc. operates the Lido Motel in Franklin Park, Illinois. In November 2020, a windstorm caused one of the motel’s brick veneer walls to collapse. At the time, Lido was insured under a policy issued by AIX Specialty Insurance Company which provided coverage for windstorm damage. However, the policy contained an exclusion for any loss or damage directly or indirectly resulting from ...
