Justia U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Restaurant Recycling filed suit against Employer Mutual, seeking a declaratory judgment that the insurer had a duty to defend and indemnify Restaurant Recycling. Restaurant Recycling was seeking a declaratory judgment and indemnity from an underlying lawsuit alleging that the company delivered defective shipments of recycled fat in which New Fashion Pork used as an ingredient in its swine feed. The court held that the total pollution exclusion in the insurance policy limited coverage in this case because the damage arose from dispersal of lasalocid, which Restaurant Recycling conceded was a pollutant. View "Restaurant Recycling, LLC v. Employer Mutual Casualty Co." on Justia Law

The parties agreed that the anti-stacking provision barred the insureds from recovering any money from Country Preferred for a car accident. The insureds contend that as a result, Country Preferred committed fraud and was unjustly enriched by collecting three separate premiums for underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage, when the anti-stacking provision rendered the UIM coverage in the insureds' second and third policies worthless or "illusory" under Missouri courts.The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of the fraudulent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment counterclaims, holding that the anti-stacking provisions did not render UIM coverage in multiple policies illusory because the premium paid for coverage under each policy corresponded with an increase in coverage. In this case, payment for UIM coverage under the insureds' second and third insurance policies buys coverage for non-named, non-family passengers and drivers of the insureds' second and third vehicles. View "Country Preferred Insurance Co. v. Lee" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's order finding that Prudential did not abuse its discretion when it terminated plaintiff's long term disability benefits. The court held that, although plaintiff presented some evidence that he was disabled, Prudential's decision to deny benefits was supported by substantial evidence. In this case, Prudential had evidence that plaintiff was deliberately exaggerating his symptoms, making it impossible to determine whether he had cognitive deficiencies that rendered him disabled. View "Johnston v. Prudential Insurance Co." on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to Strata's excess insurer, Houston Casualty, and denial of its cross-motion for summary judgment. After an employee was killed in a mine accident, his estate filed the underlying suit alleging that Strata's intentional failure to maintain a safe workplacae triggered an exception to the Montana Workers Compensation Act which provided the exclusive remedy for work injuries.The court held that the district court properly granted summary judgment to Houston Casualty because the excess insurance policy did not cover the estate's claims against Strata in the underlying suit. Therefore, Houston Casualty had no duty to indemnify Strata and thus it did not breach its duty of good faith. In this case, under the policy's plain and unambiguous language, coverage was subject to the Montana Intentional Acts Exclusion Endorsement. View "Houston Casualty Co. v. Strata Corp." on Justia Law

Defendant appealed the district court's vacatur of the arbitration award plaintiff received against his insurer, Great American, for wrongfully denying his claim for damage to his corn crop. The court vacated and remanded for further proceedings, holding that vacatur of the arbitration award was improper because the arbitrators rendered a sufficiently mutual, final, and definite award. The court held that the arbitration panel's failure to break down the award by county did not mean that it was so imperfectly executed such that it rendered no mutual, final, and definite award. The court also found that the panel's written explanation for the award amount was adequate. View "Great American Insurance Co. v. Russell" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for American Family, in an action brought by Clarke, alleging that the insurer wrongfully denied coverage for defense and indemnity of a lawsuit against Clarke in state court. The court held that the claims as pled in the underlying state court action did not give rise to a duty to defend under Iowa law, and no duty to indemnify could exist. In this case, the claims for damages caused by ice dams during the 2009-2010 winter did not rationally involve property damage that occurred before the policy expired in 2006. View "Clarke Co., Ltd. v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co." on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for Employers in an action brought by Employers, seeking a declaratory judgment to clarify whether Hartford had a duty to pay half of the expenses related to an underlying workers' compensation claim. The court held that Hartford's purported cancellation of an insurance policy, after a workers' compensation claim had arisen, was void under Missouri law. Furthermore, assuming that Hartford properly pleaded the affirmative defense of mutual mistake, the court held that the company failed to identify any mutual mistake during the formation of the contract. View "Employers Preferred Insurance Co. v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co." on Justia Law

American Family filed suit seeking a declaratory judgment against Vein Centers, its insured, disputing American Family's duty to defend and indemnify Vein Centers in a class action. St. Louis was the class representative in the underlying action against Vein Centers and later joined as a defendant in the declaratory judgment action.The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for American Family, holding that the district court did not err in concluding that American Family satisfied its burden of establishing the minimum amount in controversy and summary judgment was proper because St. Louis Heart failed to provide any evidence that adequate notice of the policy exclusion was not provided to Vein Centers. View "American Family Mutual Insurance Co. v. St. Louis Heart Center, Inc." on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of Twin City's cross-motion for summary judgment, finding that Twin City did not owe Robert Mau or EWS a duty to defend under a Twin City insurance policy. Applying North Dakota law, the court held that Twin City owed no duty to defend Mau in his capacity as director and officer of MW because no claims were brought against him in that capacity and, in any event, the dual service exclusion applied. The court also held that Twin City did not owe a duty to defend EWS where the claims against it for breach of contract and fraud are based upon the Asset Purchase Agreement and liability could not have been incurred in absence of the Agreement. Furthermore, even if EWS's arguments had some validity, the contract exclusion would apply to any resulting liability. View "Mau v. Twin City Fire Insurance Co." on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's entry of judgment for the insured in a dispute over property coverage of a building that was destroyed by fire. The court held that the district court correctly entered judgment for the insured on the bad faith claim where Met could not prove misrepresentation or deception by the insured, or any reliance thereupon by Met. The court also held that the district court properly calculated the economic damages the insured suffered as a result of Met's bad faith refusal to pay pursuant to the provisions of the improperly rescinded contract. Furthermore, the district court did not abuse its discretion in awarding reasonable attorney fees. View "Hayes v. Metropolitan Property & Casualty Insurance" on Justia Law