The town of Greece in New York and its insurer, Lloyd’s of London, have reached a settlement over the unpaid legal costs in the sexual abuse cases involving a former police officer.
According to a report by the
Democrat and Chronicle, Lloyd’s has agreed to pay US$300,000 to the town of Greece after its refusal last year to cover all costs to resolve the lawsuits.
Town Attorney Brian Marianetti said Lloyd’s payment is a “sizable amount” of what Greece originally sought, the report added.
"It was money that we felt we were entitled to," Marianetti was quoted as saying in the report.
In 2009 and 2011, two women who were sexually abused by former Greece police officer Gary Pignato filed cases against him, the town and former police chief Merritt Rahn.
Lloyd’s covered the town’s US$900,000 settlement for the lawsuits, but it refused to pay the costs for legal defence, Marianetti said.
Greece sued Lloyd’s after the insurer declined to cover all the legal costs. In its complaint, the town alleged that Lloyd's was wrongly refusing insurance coverage.
Greece also accused Lloyd’s of breaching state insurance law by not informing the town in "a timely manner" of its decision to refuse coverage,
Democrat and Chronicle reported.
The report said Pignato was convicted in 2009 of charges that he forced one of the women into sex. He also pleaded guilty to criminal trespass and official misconduct to resolve the allegations made by the second woman.
He has since been released after serving prison time.
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