Insurers Not Required to Cover Asbestos Contamination Claims, Wash. Federal Judge Rules

SEATTLE — A contractor is not covered for an underlying asbestos contamination lawsuit because the allegations fall within the policies’ asbestos exclusions, a Washington federal judge has ruled, explaining that the efficient proximate cause rule does not apply.

In a Dec. 14 order, Judge Ricardo S. Martinez of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington agreed with the insurers that not more than one event caused the damage at issue.

The Northshore School District hired Chas. H. Beresford Co., Inc. and Charles H. Beresford Co. Inc. for a project at an elementary school, which included the replacement …