A California appeals court said Thursday that while a June 2020 burglary at a marijuana dispensary constituted one occurrence under its insurance policy, a trial judge erred when finding the insurer was not required to make an additional payment for business losses.
The First Appellate District said in its published ruling in Apex Solutions Inc. v. Falls Lake Insurance Management Company Inc., that a narrow triable issue exists concerning the proper calculation of Apex’s lost business income.
The three-judge appeals court panel said the trial judge erred by not squarely addressing the parties’ “diametrically opposed” arguments on how to calculate Apex’s business losses stemming from the burglary. The panel pointed out that the judge did not rule on Falls Lake’s objection to the declaration of Apex accountant William Funderburke for hearsay and lack of foundation.
Apex’s Oakland store was burglarized in June 2020 during the civil unrest following the death of George Floyd. The company’s policies from Falls Lake provided $600,000 in coverage per occurrence for property damage and up to $2 million in coverage for business losses, court records show.
Apex told Falls Lake that it lost $2.5 million in inventory from the burglary. The insurer paid $600,000 to
