Occam’s Razor Exclusion for Work Performed by Insured Defeats Claim for Construction Defects Post 4935 Read the full article at https://lnkd.in/gT_NsMHv, see the full video at https://lnkd.in/gqkPHYbp and at https://lnkd.in/gEEXkUe3, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 4900 posts. The question presented to the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals was whether a contractor’s CGL insurance policy covers general damage to a non-defective part of the contractor’s project resulting from a subcontractor’s defective work on a different part of that project. APPLICATION OF OCCAM’S RAZOR The analysis technique that proposes that the simplest of competing theories be preferred to the more complex. FACTUAL BACKGROUND Applying Massachusetts law, the district court concluded that Admiral had no duty to defend Tocci in Admiral Insurance Company, Starr Indemnity & Liability Company, Great American Assurance Company v. Tocci Building Corporation, Tocci Residential LLC, John L. Tocci, Sr., No. 22-1462, United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit (November 8, 2024) and Tocci appealed. From 2013 to 2016, Tocci was the construction manager for an apartment project owned by Toll JM EB Residential Urban Renewal LLC (“Toll”). There were several work quality issues and delays on the project, and Toll eventually terminated Tocci in March 2016 for alleged mismanagement of the project. Toll sued with allegations regarding instances of defective work leading to property damage. The allegations included defective work by Tocci’s subcontractors resulting in various instances of property damage to non-defective work on the project, including (1) damage to sheetrock resulting from faulty roof work; (2) mold formation resulting from inadequate sheathing and water getting into the building; and (3) damage to a concrete slab, wood framing, and underground pipes resulting from soil settlement due to improper backfill and soil compaction. DUTY TO DEFEND Tocci sought defense and indemnity coverage under the Admiral insurance policies. Admiral denied coverage. The district court granted Admiral’s motion on duty to defend because the damage alleged in Toll’s complaint did not qualify as “property damage” as defined in the policy because the allegations consisted entirely of damage at Tocci’s own project. ANALYSIS The First Circuit considered three steps to the coverage analysis: (1) Do the damages alleged in the action fall within the scope of coverage?; (2) if so, do the exclusions to coverage apply?; and (3) if so, do any exceptions to the exclusions apply? The First Circuit noted that there is a sharp split of authority on whether damage to non-defective work resulting from a subcontractor’s defective work constitutes “property damage” or is caused by an “occurrence.” The First Circuit decided to avoid the issues of what constitutes “property damage” by focusing on the exclusions which were sufficient to resolve the complete dispute. THE HOLDING There are two “Damage to Property” exclusions that provide that there is no coverage for “property damage” to: that particular part of real property on which you or any contractors or subcontractors working directly or indirectly on your behalf are performing operations, if the ‘property damage’ arises out of those operations; or that particular part of any property that must be restored, repaired or replaced because “your work” was incorrectly performed on it. The First Circuit, applying Occam’s Razor, focused its analysis on the exclusion it concluded covers the allegations in the Toll complaint. Since the complaint alleges damage resulting from Tocci’s “incorrectly performed” work on the entire project “[t]hat particular part of any property that must be restored, repaired or replaced because ‘[Tocci’s] work’ was incorrectly performed on it” refers to the entirety of the project where Tocci was the general contractor charged with supervising and managing the project as a whole. Therefore, the First Circuit concluded that Admiral met its burden of establishing that the Toll action only alleges damage falling within the exclusion and that there was no exception to that exclusion that applied. ZALMA OPINION This is a case of a court applying Occam’s Razor, by picking an easy and obvious solution – the application of an exclusion – and avoiding the problem of different court rulings on coverage about “property damage” and “occurence.” Since the exclusion clearly applied there was no duty to defend. (c) 2024 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 Newsbreak.com https://www.newsbreak.com/@c/1653419?s=01; 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 Subscribe to my substack at https://lnkd.in/gmmzUVBy

President Trump’s new Border Czar, Tom Homan, has shared an update on the operation to locate over 300,000 missing children amid the chaos of the Biden-Harris administration’s open border policies.

Pissed-off Chicagoans Threaten to Turn Chicago RED Pissed-off Chicagoans slam progressive Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson to his face...Listen to what they have to say. It's a clear rebuke of the far-Left Democrat policies that have scourged our urban areas for the 8 years of Obama and the four years of Biden-Harris. https://substack.com/@franksalvato/note/c-77501642 #politics #chicago #Democrats #Trump

Pissed-off Chicagoans slam progressive Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson to his face...Listen to what they have to say. It's a clear rebuke of the far-Left Democrat policies that have scourged our urban areas for the 8 years of Obama and the four years of Biden-Harris. #politics #chicago #Democrats #Trump https://substack.com/@franksalvato/note/c-77501642

Chutzpah – STOLI Fraudster Claims Hardship Felon Seeks Release from Home Confinement in Luxury Apartment in New York City Post 4931 Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/chutzpah-stoli-fraudster-claims-hardship-barry-zalma-esq-cfe-8jbhc, see the full video at and at and https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 4900 posts. Insurance Fraud is a serious crime, especially when it takes advantage of the elderly to defraud insurers in a Stranger Originated Life Insurance (STOLI) scheme. In United States Of America v. Michael Binday, No. 12 CR 152 (CM), United States District Court, S.D. New York (November 4, 2024) the defendant continued to use the wealth he gained from his fraud to impose on the courts of the United States with frivolous and unfounded motions. BACKGROUND Michael Binday was sentenced to 144 months’ imprisonment after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, as well as actual mail and wire fraud. The evidence at trial established that Binday led his codefendants in a scheme designed to procure “stranger-originated life insurance” (or “STOLI”) policies-policies on the lives of seniors for the benefit of investors who were strangers to them- by means of fraudulent applications. Binday spent the first five years of his sentence at FCI Otisville. But in September 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Bureau of Prisons released Binday to serve his sentence on home confinement. Thus, Binday has spent the last three-plus years serving his sentence in his luxury apartment on the upper westside of Manhattan. His sentence is scheduled to end on September 20, 2025. Binday filed: (1) a motion for compassionate release and (2) a motion pursuant to Rule 60(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure seeking to vacate the judgement of this Court dated May 23, 2018, denying his first petition. Michael Binday and his two codefendants, James Kergil and Mark Resnick, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud; mail fraud; and wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud insurance companies which the defendants purported to serve as agents. Binday led his codefendants in a scheme designed to procure “stranger-originated life insurance” (or “STOLI”) policies-policies on the lives of seniors for the benefit of investors who were strangers to them- by means of fraudulent applications. Over the course of their scheme, the defendants submitted at least 92 fraudulent applications, resulting in the issuance of 74 policies with a total face value of over $100 million. These policies generated roughly $11.7 million in commissions to the defendants. Binday was sentenced to 144 months’ imprisonment. BINDAY SURRENDERS Binday surrendered on July 1,2016, to FCI Otisville to commence his term of imprisonment and immediately filed motions for compassionate release, reversal of his convictions, and multiple other motions. On July 1, 2024, Binday-who is serving his sentence in his Manhattan apartment- filed a renewed motion for compassionate release. Binday Failed to Demonstrate Extraordinary and Compelling Circumstances As a threshold matter, it is worth emphasizing that Binday is not asking to be released from prison, but rather, to be relieved of the inconveniences associated with the rules of home confinement. He has served the last 38 months in his apartment on the upper west side of Manhattan (not at all what the Court intended when he was sentenced). How much more inconvenient it would be if he were back at Otisville- where the Court intended that he would serve his sentence. Binday’s crimes were serious. As the court explained when he was sentenced to 144 months in prison: Venality, rampant mendacity, the creation of false documents, obstruction of efforts by the victims to ascertain the truth, obstruction of regulators and the government’s efforts to learn the truth, Binday’s actions were precisely the sort of criminality that has left large segments of our society convince that all businessmen are crooks. Insurance fraud may not qualify as a crime of violence within the meaning of the federal sentencing system and that, unfortunately, is why it is all too often punished not with the severity that it deserves. As it is, Binday’s home confinement means that he is subject to far less stringent conditions than he would be otherwise. In that regard, he got more of a break than he deserves. The motion for compassionate release was denied. ZALMA OPINION STOLI fraud is a type of fraud on insurers that effects the straw buyers, usually older men and women who have no need for life insurance, is a truly venal act that deserves serious punishment. Binday stole millions from insurers, owns a luxury apartment in the Upper West Side of New York, and wants to be released from the confinement when he should have stayed in federal prison. He has abused the courts with his multiple motions and appeals and will serve out the remainder of his sentence and the DOJ and FBI should look into his current conduct since there is, in my opinion, the possibility that he is funding his attorneys fees with more fraud. (c) 2024 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 Newsbreak.com https://www.newsbreak.com/@c/1653419?s=01; 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

🚨🚨 From a friend **Please READ the following to the end … It will open your understanding of what the World as a whole suffered in the past four years … and Still Suffer …** **Their Plandemic Failed … but don’t worry … They Still Have PLAN B … starting in 2025 … that will last at least to 2030 …** **Unless We The People … ACT … Immediately …** ***“CDC Planned National Quarantine Camps”*** ***By Jeffrey A. Tucker November 7, 2024*** ***“The plan was to enforce this with a vaccine passport. It broke. Once the news leaked that the shot didn’t stop infection or transmission, the planners lost public support and the scheme collapsed.”*** ***“No matter how bad you think COVID-19 policies were, they were intended to be worse. Consider the vaccine passports alone.*** ***Six cities were locked down to include only the vaccinated in public indoor places. They were New York City, Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and Seattle.*** ***The plan was to enforce this with a vaccine passport. It broke. Once the news leaked that the shot didn’t stop infection or transmission, the planners lost public support and the scheme collapsed.*** ***It was undoubtedly planned to be permanent and nationwide if not worldwide. Instead, the scheme had to be dialled back.*** ***Features of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) edicts did incredible damage. It imposed the rent moratorium. It decreed the ridiculous ‘six feet of distance’ and ‘mask mandates’.*** ***It forced Plexiglas as the interface for commercial transactions. It implied that mail-in balloting must be the norm, which probably flipped the election. It delayed the reopening as long as possible. It was sadistic.*** ***Even with all that, worse was planned. On July 26, 2020, with the George Floyd riots having finally settled down, the CDC issued a plan for establishing nationwide quarantine camps.*** ***People were to be isolated, given only food and some cleaning supplies. They would be banned from participating in any religious services.*** ***The plan included contingencies for preventing suicide. There were no provisions made for any legal appeals or even the right to legal counsel.*** ***The plan’s authors were unnamed but included 26 footnotes. It was completely official. The document was only removed on about March 26, 2023.*** ***During the entire intervening time, the plan survived on the CDC’s public site with little to no public notice or controversy.*** ***It was called ‘Interim Operational Considerations for Implementing the Shielding Approach to Prevent COVID-19 Infections in Humanitarian Settings’.*** ***‘This document presents considerations from the perspective of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) for implementing the shielding approach in humanitarian settings as outlined in guidance documents focused on camps, displaced populations and low-resource settings. …’*** ***‘This approach has never been documented and has raised questions and concerns among humanitarian partners who support response activities in these settings.’*** ***‘The purpose of this document is to highlight potential implementation challenges of the shielding approach from CDC’s perspective and guide thinking around implementation in the absence of empirical data.’*** ***‘Considerations are based on current evidence known about the transmission and severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and may need to be revised as more information becomes available.’*** ***By the absence of empirical data, the meaning is: that nothing like this has ever been tried. The point of the document was to map out how it could be possible and alert authorities to possible pitfalls to be avoided.*** ***The meaning of ‘shielding’ is:*** ***‘To reduce the number of severe COVID-19 cases by limiting contact between individuals at higher risk of developing severe disease (‘high-risk’) and the general population (‘low-risk’).’*** ***‘High-risk individuals would be temporarily relocated to safe or ‘green zones’ established at the household, neighborhood, camp/sector or community level depending on the context and setting. … They would have minimal contact with family members and other low-risk residents.’*** ***In other words, this is what used to be concentration camps.*** ***Who are these people who would be rounded up? They are ‘older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions’. Who determines this? Public health authorities. The purpose?*** ***The CDC explains: ‘physically separating high-risk individuals from the general population’ allows authorities ‘to prioritize the use of the limited available resources’.*** ***This sounds a lot like condemning people to death in the name of protecting them.*** ***The model establishes three levels. First is the household level. Here high-risk people are physically isolated from other household members’.*** ***That alone is objectionable. Elders need people to take care of them. They need love and to be surrounded by family. The CDC should never imagine that it would intervene in households to force old people into separate places.*** ***The model jumps from households to the “neighborhood level.” Here we have the same approach: forced separation of those deemed vulnerable.*** ***From there, the model jumps again to the ‘camp/sector level’. Here it is different:*** ***‘A group of shelters such as schools, community buildings within a camp/sector (max 50 high-risk individuals per single green zone) where high-risk individuals are physically isolated together.’*** ***‘One entry point is used for exchange of food, supplies, etc. A meeting area is used for residents and visitors to interact while practicing physical distancing (2 meters). No movement into or outside the green zone.’*** ***Yes, you read that correctly. The CDC is here proposing concentration camps for the sick or anyone they deem to be in danger of medically significant consequences of infection.*** ***Further: ‘to minimize external contact, each green zone should include able-bodied high-risk individuals capable of caring for residents who have disabilities or are less mobile. Otherwise, designate low-risk individuals for these tasks, preferably who have recovered from confirmed COVID-19 and are assumed to be immune’.*** ***The plan says in passing, contradicting thousands of years of experience, ‘Currently, we do not know if prior infection confers immunity’.*** ***Therefore the only solution is to minimize all exposure throughout the whole population. Getting sick is criminalized.*** ***These camps require a ‘dedicated staff’ to:*** ***‘Monitor each green zone. Monitoring includes both adherence to protocols and potential adverse effects or outcomes due to isolation and stigma. It may be necessary to assign someone within the green zone, if feasible, to minimize movement in/out of green zones.’*** ***The people housed in these camps need to have good explanations of why they are denied even basic religious freedom.*** ***The report explains:*** ***‘Proactive planning ahead of time, including strong community engagement and risk communication is needed to better understand the issues and concerns of restricting individuals from participating in communal practices because they are being shielded. Failure to do so could lead to both interpersonal and communal violence.’*** ***Further, there must be some mechanisms to prohibit suicide: Additional stress and worry are common during any epidemic and may be more pronounced with COVID-19 due to the novelty of the disease and increased fear of infection, increased childcare responsibilities due to school closures and loss of livelihoods.*** ***Thus, in addition to the risk of stigmatization and feeling of isolation, this shielding approach may have an important psychological impact and may lead to significant emotional distress, exacerbate existing mental illness or contribute to anxiety, depression, helplessness, grief, substance abuse or thoughts of suicide among those who are separated or have been left behind.*** ***Shielded individuals with concurrent severe mental health conditions should not be left alone. There must be a caregiver allocated to them to prevent further protection risks such as neglect and abuse.*** ***The biggest risk, the document explains, is as follows: “While the shielding approach is not meant to be coercive, it may appear forced or be misunderstood in humanitarian settings.”*** ***It should go without saying but this ‘shielding’ approach suggested here has nothing to do with focused protection of the Great Barrington Declaration.*** ***Focused protection specifically says:*** ***‘Schools and universities should be open for in-person teaching. Extracurricular activities, such as sports, should be resumed. Young low-risk adults should work normally, rather than from home.’*** ***‘Restaurants and other businesses should open. Arts, music, sport and other cultural activities should resume. People who are more at risk may participate if they wish, while society as a whole enjoys the protection conferred upon the vulnerable by those who have built up herd immunity.’*** ***In four years of research, and encountering truly shocking documents and evidence of what happened in the COVID-19 years, this one certainly ranks up at the top of the list of totalitarian schemes for pathogenic control prior to vaccination. It is quite simply mind-blowing that such a scheme could ever be contemplated.*** ***Who wrote it? What kind of deep institutional pathology exists that enabled this to be contemplated?*** ***The CDC has 10,600 full-time employees and contractors and a budget of $11.5 billion. In light of this report, and everything else that has gone on there for four years, both numbers should be zero.”*** https://brownstone.org/articles/the-cdc-planned-quarantine-camps-nationwide/ **Here are some links to this article:** - ***“U.S. Developing Vaccine Passport System Using Complex Web of Big Tech Partnerships”*** https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/us-developing-vaccine-passport-system/ - ***"Interim Operational Considerations for Implementing the Shielding Approach to Prevent COVID-19 Infections in Humanitarian Settings*** ***Updated July 26, 2020"*** https://web.archive.org/web/20200728203549/https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/global-covid-19/shielding-approach-humanitarian.html

Bernie Sanders made a significant Statement that disrupted the established norms within the Democratic Party, particularly in the context of his speeches or influence during major political events. His outspokenness has often challenged traditional party leadership and highlighted systemic issues. If his recent statement involved criticizing the party elite and their reluctance to change, it raises the question of whether the party will heed his call or continue on its usual path, that shift will lead to a meaningful reckoning or introspection among Democratic leaders. Historically, while his influence has mobilized large portions of the electorate, especially young and progressive voters, the party’s response has often been cautious and measured. For them to learn from this, they might need to re-evaluate their policies and approach How Sanders' past speeches have influenced the Democratic Party of this recent event?

NETHERLANDS to implement the most stringent immigration policies in Europe with forced deportations of illegal alien Muslim invaders and foreign criminals https://barenakedislam.com/2024/11/04/netherlands-to-implement-the-most-stringent-immigration-policies-in-europe-with-forced-deportations-of-illegal-alien-muslim-invaders-and-foreign-criminals/?jetpack_skip_subscription_popup

Active citizen monitoring of government policies and practices is more important today than ever, especially in large settings. This vigilance requires people to be more aware and to take action by informing themselves about policies, raising their concerns, and engaging in discussions about government behavior. Freedom can be further secured through civic engagement tools such as public forums, online petitions, and peaceful protests by keeping things open and accountable. The more people are informed and involved, the more democratic their country will be, and this will serve as a damper on the tendency of government power to trespass on the rights of its citizenry. https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/11/citizenry_participation_in_times_of_political_turmoil.html

Canada’s growing asylum crisis: Immigration policies put pressure on Quebec and Ontario! Asylum claims continue to rise each year, placing immense pressure on Canadians. International students are increasingly applying for refugee status, as are individuals on tourist visas. Meanwhile, immigration targets, already high, show no signs of decreasing. Canadians bear the financial burden as poverty rates climb at an alarming rate. 🇨🇦 #NoMoreLiberalsAndNDP 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 #SayingTheQuietPartOutLoud 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 #resigntrudeau 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 #JustSayNoMore 🇨🇦 https://www.rebelnews.com/canada_s_growing_asylum_crisis_immigration_policies_put_pressure_on_quebec_and_ontario