Wescott Elec. Co. v. Cincinnati Ins. Co.

INTRODUCTION

This disheartening story of prolonged and significant employee theft presents a straightforward case of contract construction where the plain language of the insurance policy dictates the result.

Over the course of ten years, an employee of the Wescott Electric Company stole nearly $3 million from Wescott. During that time, Wescott had four consecutive insurance policies issued by the Cincinnati Insurance Company. Wescott discovered the theft during the policy period of the fourth insurance policy, and Cincinnati paid the policy limit of $100,000 for a single "occurrence" of…