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Georgia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company v. Smith
Supreme Court of Georgia (2016) | 298 Ga. 716; 784 S.E.2d 422; 2016 Ga. LEXIS 245
TL;DR: An insurer denied coverage for a child's lead poisoning injuries, citing a "pollution exclusion" in the landlord's policy. The court held that lead-based paint is unambiguously a "pollutant" under the policy's plain language, so the exclusion applies and the insurer has no duty to defend.
Legal Significance: Affirms Georgia's strict textualist approach to interpreting "absolute pollution exclusions" in insurance contracts. The exclusion's application is determined by the policy's plain language, not the historical purpose of environmental pollution control, thus broadening its scope to include non-industrial, residential contaminants.