Silica Insurance Exclusion Limits Examined by California Judge

A California federal judge probed the limits of insurers’ exemptions from defending against the cases of hundreds of stoneworkers alleging chronic illnesses linked to silica and other toxins.

Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani at first said that policy exclusions exempting insurers from defending suits “arising out of” injury caused by “silica or silica-related dust” used broad language, and it would likely mean injuries caused by gases and other substances that are released when manufacturing artificial stone are also exempted.

But as hours of argument unfolded in the US District Court for the Central District of California, she said, “perhaps the ...