Insights from the Courtroom
- Insurer Off the Hook: Missouri appellate judges sided with Cincinnati Specialty Underwriters, affirming the insurer’s liability for only $25,000 despite a jury’s $405,000 award to a patron viciously beaten at The Bunkhouse Bar & Grill.
- Assault Exclusion Holds: The ruling reinforces the power of “assault and battery” exclusions in commercial liability insurance, even when negligence is involved.
- Policyholders and Victims Beware: The decision highlights the pitfalls facing victims and businesses when policy language limits payouts, regardless of jury verdicts or the severity of harm.
By Samuel Lopez – USA Herald
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A night out turned into a lifelong nightmare for Kristy Richards. Harassed and brutally assaulted at The Bunkhouse Bar & Grill, Richards suffered injuries so gruesome—a detached ear, torn hair, lacerated face, and battered arms and shoulders—that a Platte County jury later awarded her $405,000 in damages.
But her victory in court proved cold comfort. Thanks to an obscure line in The Bunkhouse’s insurance policy, Richards will see just a sliver of that award. On May 27, Missouri’s Court of Appeals for the Western District closed the book on her case, affirming a lower court ruling that Cincinnati Specialty Underwriters Insurance Company owes her no more than $25,000 under its “assault and battery” exclusion.
