New Litigation
Nothing Worse Than Bad Seafood...
Hanover Ins. Group, Inc. v. Raw Seafoods, Inc.
BUSINESS LITIGATION SESSION
Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. is seeking a declaration that a liability policy it issued to a raw seafood processor does not cover liability to its customers for spoilage - at least when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration orders the product destroyed. In the underlying claim, Atlantic Fisheries, Inc. alleges that the insured, Raw Seafoods, Inc., mishandled $300,000 worth of raw scallops that the FDA ordered destroyed for spoilage or contamination. Hanover claims that the loss described in the lawsuit does not describe a covered "occurrence," and falls within policy exclusions applicable to product recalls and damage to the insured's own property.
Dentists Show Teeth in Battle Over Noncompete
Dental Wellness Group, P.C. v. Maher, et al.
BUSINESS LITIGATION SESSION
Dental Wellness Group, P.C. of South Weymouth is seeking to enjoin Gerald Maher, D.M.D. from practicing dentistry with a competing Marshfield practice while the parties arbitrate whether Dr. Maher has violated non-competition and non-solicitation covenants. Dental Wellness Group purchased Dr. Maher's dental practice in September 2009, and the purchase and sale agreement contained a provision prohibiting Dr. Maher from practicing dentistry within a 15 mile radius of Dental Wellness's office in South Weymouth. (According to Mapquest, the driving distance between the two offices in question is 16.73 miles.) A separate employment agreement between the parties prohibited Dr. Maher from soliciting any of Dental Wellness's patients. The duration of both restrictive covenants was "three years from the date [Dr. Maher] permanently discontinues practicing dentistry [at the Dental Wellness office]," although it is unclear when, if ever, Dr. Maher permanently discontinued practicing dentistry at the Dental Wellness office.* Dental Wellness is also suing the Marshfield dental practice where Dr. Maher is currently working for torious interference.
*Pages 6 and 7 were inexplicably missing from the copy of the Complaint we obtained. We assume the missing information is in those pages.
Retired NFL Players Recover Fumble; Payment Processing Company Seeks Further Review
Litle & Co., LLC. V. Nat'l Football League Alumni Ass'n
SUFFOLK SUPERIOR COURT
Litle & Co., LLC, is suing National Football League Alumni Association ("NFLAA") to recover funds that were mistakenly transferred to NFLAA, and which NFLAA has allegedly retained despite acknowledging that it has no right to the funds. NFLAA engaged Litle & Co. to process payments made to NFLAA via credit or debit card. After processing the transactions, Litle & Co. deposits the amount owed to NFLAA's account. Litle & Co. mistakenly deposited approximately $100,000 into NFLAA's account in March 2012 that was instead payable to a third party, and is now seeking to recover those funds. This sounds like a case of a turnover that has a good chance of being reversed upon further review.
