A federal judge has dismissed an insurance company and two insurance inspection companies from a lawsuit in the wake of a nightclub fire. The plaintiffs argued that the insurance company and the inspection companies failed to properly investigate the club and failed to notice defects. The judge said that the insurance companies owed no duty to the plaintiffs.
What does this mean in English? Lets start with this. When a commercial establishment such as a nightclub gets insurance, the insurance company inspects the property. Here, the insurance company hired two other companies to inspect the property. Apparently, the insurance company and the inspection companies did not do such a great job and missed some building code violations and other possible problems. The judge, in essence, said that it did not matter because the insurance company and other inspection companies were not inspecting it to ensure it was safe for the public.
I think this ruling might be right. If the insurance company could be held responsible, then any time there was an accident at a commercial establishment, people could sue the insurance company for not inspecting properly. That strikes me as an unfair result.