Insurers seek to move Meta coverage fight back to Delaware state court

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and one of its units asked a federal judge in Wilmington, Delaware, on Thursday to return its coverage dispute with Meta Platforms Inc., Instagram LLC and other insurers to state court.

Hartford and Sentinel Insurance Co. Ltd. said in the motion filed in Hartford Casualty Insurance Co. et al. v. Instagram LLC et al. that the defendants improperly removed the lawsuit to federal court Dec. 27 and flouted the so-called “forum defendant rule” that prohibits removal of a case from state court when a defendant is also incorporated in that state.

Menlo Park, California-based Meta, the operator of social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp, is incorporated in Delaware, court records show.

Hartford and Sentinel also argue that the court should reject Meta’s request to realign the parties so all insurers are plaintiffs.

Essentially, Meta “asks the Court to tear apart and completely reinvent the case to ‘find’ grounds for removal where none exist,” Hartford and Sentinel said.

Hartford and Sentinel sued Meta and several of its insurers Nov. 1, seeking a court determination that they are not obligated to defend the tech company against thousands of lawsuits brought by school districts, government entities, individuals, and state attorneys general for alleged injuries and mental illnesses users have developed as a result of using social media platforms.

Meta removed the lawsuit, saying its insurers were improperly joined as defendants. It also filed its own coverage dispute against six insurers in federal court in San Francisco Dec. 30.

Representatives for the parties did not respond to requests for comment.