In the case of Country Mutual Insurance Company vs. Gary Gang Xu, Xingjian Sun, Xing Zhao, and Ao Wang (case ID: 5-22-0287), filed in the Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District on March 4th, 2024, the insurance company sought a declaratory judgment stating it had no obligation to defend or indemnify its insured party, Gary Gang Xu. The case revolved around an underlying tort action against Xu under a homeowners insurance policy and a personal umbrella liability policy issued by Country Mutual.
The plaintiff's lawyer argued that the allegations in the underlying complaint did not fall within or potentially within the coverage of either policy or were excluded from coverage. The trial court denied Xu’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and subsequently granted summary judgment in favor of Country Mutual. On appeal, Xu contended that one count of the underlying complaint alleged acts of negligence that fell within or potentially within the coverage of his personal umbrella liability policy.
The underlying action involved a 10-count complaint filed against Xu in September 2019 by Xingjian Sun, Xing Zhao, and Ao Wang in the United States District Court for Central Illinois. The plaintiffs accused Xu, a tenured associate professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2006 through 2018, of using his power to sexually harass, assault and exploit female students and colleagues.
The plaintiff is seeking affirmation from the court that it has no duty to defend or indemnify Gary Gang Xu because his alleged actions do not fall within their policy coverage or are subject to policy exclusion.