Public record case files
Evidence-led explainers of final public records. They report the record and its limits; they do not predict how another claim will turn out.
- Worker classification in Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court
Calling a worker an independent contractor did not settle the question in this California wage case. The court used California’s ABC test, a three-part worker-classification rule, to decide whether drivers were covered by the wage order. That rule does not automatically answer every workers’ compensation or insurance question, which depends on the applicable law and facts.
Supreme Court of California · Decided April 30, 2018
- Additional-insured wording in Burlington Insurance v. NYC Transit Authority
Being named as an additional insured did not automatically protect the transit authority. The policy applied only if the contractor’s own actions or failures helped cause the injury, and the contract’s insurance requirement could not change that policy limit. Read the actual additional-insured endorsement—not just the contract or certificate.
New York Court of Appeals · Decided June 6, 2017
- Food spoilage and an off-premises power failure in Northern Spy Food
The restaurant had a power outage and spoiled food, but the court found that the interruption began at the utility and was caused by flooding—an excluded event under that policy. Check where an outage began, what caused it, and the actual utility-service and spoilage wording before assuming food loss is covered.
Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County · Decided March 22, 2016