Latest 2 Cases: Argonaut Great Central Insurance Co. v. Lincoln County (Insurance Law), SnugglyCat, Inc. v. Opfer Communications, Inc. ...

The Perils of Relying on the Wrong Clause—Grounding the Ministerial Exception at the Supreme Court

IRA C. LUPU, ROBERT TUTTLE

GW Law professors Ira C. Lupu and Robert W. Tuttle explain why the path the U.S. Supreme Court is taking in ministerial exception cases—relying on the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment—is dangerously misguided. Lupu and Tuttle argue that the ministerial exception rests primarily on the Establishment Clause and is strictly limited to employment decisions about who leads or controls a faith community, or who transmits a faith.

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Argonaut Great Central Insurance Co. v. Lincoln County

Docket: 18-2930

Opinion Date: March 17, 2020

Judge: Beam

Areas of Law: Insurance Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of judgment on the pleadings in favor of the county in a dispute regarding Argonaut's duty to defend the county against a civil rights lawsuit. Under Missouri law, the court held that Argonaut had a duty to defend the county. The court explained that the duty to defend is analyzed by comparing the language of the policy with the allegations in the complaint, and if the complaint alleges facts that merely give rise to a potential claim within coverage, the insurer has a duty to defend. In this case, the county procured insurance to shield itself against, among other things, possible constitutional claims against its officers and agents during the performance of their law enforcement duties. Therefore, there was a covered wrongful act under the policy during the time the policy was in effect.

SnugglyCat, Inc. v. Opfer Communications, Inc.

Docket: 18-3500

Opinion Date: March 17, 2020

Judge: Bobby E. Shepherd

Areas of Law: Intellectual Property, Trademark

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's order granting SnugglyCat's motion to voluntarily dismiss this Lanham Act action without prejudice pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(2). The court rejected appellants' contention that the district court failed to consider their argument regarding legal prejudice; the court saw no need to adopt a per se rule that would bar dismissal without prejudice in all cases in which a plaintiff has sued under a fee-shifting statute and found that the district court did not commit an error of law; and the district court did not commit a clear error of judgment where it considered all the relevant factors, including SnugglyCat's purported reason for seeking dismissal of the action without prejudice—its inability as a small company to sustain the cost of continuing suit—and expressly found the motion to have been made in good faith.