North Carolina — May 15, 2025 — A federal judge has granted a significant pretrial victory to North Carolina furniture manufacturer E.J. Victor Inc. in its lawsuit seeking insurance coverage for damages caused by Hurricane Helene. The ruling addresses key policy language regarding flood exclusions and named storms under the insurer Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co.
In a Wednesday order, U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger ruled in favor of E.J. Victor by granting its motion for partial summary judgment, while denying Fireman’s Fund’s competing request for a pretrial win. The dispute centered on whether $75,000 in damage caused by Hurricane Helene, including flooding at E.J. Victor’s facility in September 2024, fell under the flood damage exclusion in the insurance policy.
Judge Reidinger highlighted that although the policy excludes flood damages, it explicitly carves out a coverage exception for any water inundation caused by a “named storm,” such as Hurricane Helene.
“Even assuming that there is a flood damage exclusion, the damage from Helene is excluded from the exclusion and thus is covered by the policy,” the judge stated in the order.
The decision aligns with E.J. Victor’s interpretation of the policy’s definitions of “flood” and “named storm.” Fireman’s Fund had argued that the policy language was clear that damages caused by hurricanes are excluded as floods, but the court disagreed, emphasizing that the damages would not have occurred but for Hurricane Helene.
Representing Fireman’s Fund are Fielding E. Huseth of Moore & Van Allen PLLC and Jill A. Schaar of Troutman Pepper Locke LLP. E.J. Victor is represented by Cory Hohnbaum, John H. Fontham, Taylor T. Lankford, and W. Avery Green-Conrad of King & Spalding LLP.
The case, E.J. Victor Inc. v. Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co., case number 1:24-cv-00277, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
