Three insurers are locked in a fight over who pays for a construction worker's injuries at Manhattan's iconic One Vanderbilt tower.
Who Picks Up the Tab?
The Travelers Indemnity Company filed an action on March 9, 2026 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, naming Accredited Surety and Casualty Company and Illinois Union Insurance Company - referred to in the filing as "Chubb" - as defendants. The case, docketed as No. 1:26-cv-01900, puts a familiar question squarely before the court: when a subcontractor's employee gets hurt on a job site, which insurer picks up the tab?
According to the filing, the dispute traces back to March 21, 2022, when an employee of Donaldson Interiors, Inc. was allegedly injured by an "electrical hazard" during a build-out of the 63rd through 66th floors at One Vanderbilt Avenue. The worker, Ignatius F. Mule, alleges he sustained serious injuries including traumatic brain injury with cognitive defects, anxiety and depression, cervical disc herniation, lumbar disc bulges, rotator cuff and labrum tears, a torn meniscus, and additional sprains and strains. He brought suit against the general contractor J.T. Magen & Company Inc., building owner One Vanderbilt Owner LLC, and tenant Stone Ridge Asset Management LLC, among others, asserting claims of negligence and violations of the New York Labor Law and the New York Industrial Code.
Travelers, which issued a commercial general liability policy to J.T. Magen, has been defending all three entities in that underlying lawsuit. But it argues it should not be the one paying first.
The filing contends that both Donaldson and another subcontractor, Lawrence B. Wohl, Inc., were contractually required to carry their own CGL policies naming J.T. Magen, One Vanderbilt, and Stone Ridge as additional insureds on a primary and non-contributory basis. Both the Accredited policy covering Donaldson and the Chubb policy covering Wohl allegedly contain the widely used CG 20 10 04 13 endorsement, which extends additional insured coverage for bodily injury "caused, in whole or in part, by" the named insured's acts or omissions in the performance of ongoing operations.
Travelers says it tendered the defense of all three additional insureds to both Accredited and Chubb in May 2022. According to the filing, Chubb denied the tender in October 2022 and Accredited followed in November 2022. Travelers alleges it retendered to Accredited twice more - in November 2022 and March 2023 - but was again refused.
With both carriers allegedly declining to step in, Travelers is now asking the court to declare that Accredited and Chubb owe primary and non-contributory defense and indemnity obligations to J.T. Magen, One Vanderbilt, and Stone Ridge - and that its own coverage is excess. It is also seeking reimbursement for all defense costs it has shouldered to date.
No determination has been made on the merits of the case.
The case is The Travelers Indemnity Company v. Accredited Surety and Casualty Company and Illinois Union Insurance Company, No. 1:26-cv-01900, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
