Justia U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries
Articles Posted in Insurance Law
Eichholz, et al. v. Secura Supreme Ins. Co.
Plaintiffs are survivors of the victims who were murdered inside an apartment building owned by the landlords. A state court found that the landlords breached their landlord-tenant duty to provide security to the victims and awarded plaintiffs $4 million in total damages. Plaintiffs then filed an equitable garnishment action to recover insurance proceeds from one of the landlord's insurers to satisfy a portion of the wrongful death judgments. The district court ruled that plaintiffs were entitled to collect $1 million in insurance proceeds from the insurer. The court reversed and remanded, holding that the insurance policy unambiguously precluded coverage of the wrongful death damages where the business property exclusion unambiguously precluded coverage of the wrongful death judgments plaintiffs obtained against the landlords. View "Eichholz, et al. v. Secura Supreme Ins. Co." on Justia Law
Munroe, et al. v. Continental Western Ins.
Plaintiff was injured operating his employer's truck and came to a settlement with the tortfeasors. Then plaintiff and his wife filed suit against Continental for underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage in his employer's policy. The district court granted Continental's motion for partial summary judgment, concluding that plaintiffs could not stack their claims. The court concluded that the district court erred in finding a $2 million UIM limit where there was no ambiguity in the policy's selection form because the declarations page and UIM coverage endorsement specify a $500,000 UIM limit and the selection form did not contradict this limit. The court concluded that plaintiffs' failure to timely file their cross petition did not preclude review of the stacking claim. However, the court concluded that plaintiffs' arguments lacked merit and affirmed the district court's denial of plaintiffs' stacking claim. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings. View "Munroe, et al. v. Continental Western Ins." on Justia Law
Travelers Property Casualty Ins. v. National Union Ins.
In a prior appeal, the court held that Travelers was entitled to receive $10 million from a primary insurer who had obtained a larger judgment through subrogation litigation against a third party. In this instance, the court concluded that the district court erred in holding that the court had decided the attorneys' fee issue in its prior opinion. However, the error was harmless because the court held that the equitable common-fund doctrine applied. The court also held that it was necessary to amend the amount of the common-fund offset; the district court erred in holding that the court's prior opinion precluded prejudgment and postjudgment interest; such error was not harmless and, therefore, the court reversed; the award to Travelers must be increased to reflect prejudgment and postjudgment interest; and the court directed the district court to enter judgment as detailed. View "Travelers Property Casualty Ins. v. National Union Ins." on Justia Law
Posted in:
Insurance Law, U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals
Hortica-Florists’ Mutual Ins. v. Pittman Nursery Corp., et al.
This case concerned the struggle for control of a family business, the Pittman Nursery Corporation (PNC). The district court ruled that Hortica, insurer for PNC, had a duty to defend three of the five lawsuits at issue. Pursuant to Ark. Code. Ann. 23-79-209(a), the court reversed the district court's denial of fees and remanded for a hearing to determine the proper amount of fees Hortica must pay to PNC for its defense in the declaratory judgment suit. The court affirmed the district court's grant of Hortica's post-verdict judgment as a matter of law (JAML) motion, grant of pre-verdict JAML on PNC's breach of fiduciary duty and punitive claims, and exclusion of certain evidence. View "Hortica-Florists' Mutual Ins. v. Pittman Nursery Corp., et al." on Justia Law
Posted in:
Insurance Law, U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals
Land O’Lakes, Inc. v. Employers Ins. Co., et al.
The EPA filed suit under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq. against Land O'Lakes, alleging that Land O'Lakes was responsible for cleanup costs at a contaminated refinery site. Land O'Lakes subsequently filed suit against its insurers, Wausau and Travelers, seeking payment of defense costs and indemnification under commercial general liability (CGL) policies that the insurers issued in connection with the CERCLA suit. The court concluded that Land O'Lakes's 2009 duty-to-defend claims were barred by the Minnesota statute of limitations where the 2001 Potentially Responsible Party (PRP) letter was a "suit" for arguably-covered damages as contemplated under the pertinent CGL policies. The court also concluded that Land O'Lakes's costs to remediate the refinery site fell within the owned-property exclusion. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "Land O'Lakes, Inc. v. Employers Ins. Co., et al." on Justia Law
PETCO Animal Supplies Stores, et al. v. Ins. Co. of North America
PETCO sought a declaration that ICNA had to defend and indemnify PETCO in an underlying litigation with Medtronic. Medtronic sued PETCO after an aquarium heater it had purchased from PETCO malfunctioned and started a fire at a Medtronic plant. The district court granted ICNA's motion for summary judgment and PETCO appealed. At issue was whether the aquarium heater satisfied a condition precedent to coverage under the policy. The court affirmed the district court's judgment on the ground that PETCO failed to identify any mandatory or voluntary safety standard with which the heater complied. View "PETCO Animal Supplies Stores, et al. v. Ins. Co. of North America" on Justia Law
Lexington Ins. Co. v. Fidelity Nat’l Fin.
Lexington sought a declaration that it owed Integrity neither coverage nor defenses under an errors and omissions (E&O) insurance policy. Fidelity intervened and subsequently moved for a stay. The court concluded that the district court enjoyed discretion when applying Scottsdale Ins. Co. v. Detco Indus., Inc. and it did not abuse its discretion in denying Fidelity's motion for a stay. The court also concluded that the district court properly granted summary judgment on Fidelity's indemnification claims where the two exclusions in the E&O policy, the prior-knowledge exclusion and the lien-waiver exclusion, independently and alternately precluded coverage for the claims as articulated by Fidelity on appeal. The court did not consider the propriety of the district court's election to address third-party beneficiary status nor its substantive determination as to that issue. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "Lexington Ins. Co. v. Fidelity Nat'l Fin." on Justia Law
Posted in:
Insurance Law, U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals
Amera-Seiki Corp. v. The Cincinnati Ins. Co.
In an insurance coverage dispute with a policyholder, Cincinnati appealed the district court's adverse summary judgment rulings. The policyholder sought a claim of total loss for a vertical lathe that it purchased from a manufacturer in Taiwan and that was destroyed in Los Angeles. Cincinnati denied coverage, claiming that the coverage extension for newly acquired property did not apply. The court concluded that the extension of coverage to "any location you acquire" was ambiguous and, under Iowa law, the court construed that ambiguity in the policyholder's favor. The court also concluded that the district court did not err in awarding prejudgment interest under Iowa law. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "Amera-Seiki Corp. v. The Cincinnati Ins. Co." on Justia Law
Halvorson, et al. v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co., et al.
Plaintiffs filed a class action suit against Auto-Owners, alleging breach of contract and bad faith. On appeal, Auto-Owners challenged the district court's certification of a class for those policy owners whose policies were issued in North Dakota. The court reversed, concluding that the certified class did not meet the predominance requirement of Rule 23 where the reasonableness of any claim payment may have to be individually analyzed and, therefore, the district court abused its discretion in certifying the class. View "Halvorson, et al. v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co., et al." on Justia Law
Indigo LR LLC, et al. v. Advanced Ins. Brokerage, et al.
Indigo and one of its employees filed suit against Advanced and Lile, alleging breach of contract, negligence, conspiracy, and violations of federal law on the theory that Advanced and Lile had intentionally delayed payments on valid insurance claims. Indigo argued on appeal that, despite receiving full reimbursement from the receiver, it suffered an injury because a monthly retention amount it had paid to Advanced was neither credited towards the employee's medical costs nor repaid by Indigo. The court agreed with the district court that Indigo failed to establish standing because Indigo failed to show how any injury had arisen, or might arise in the future, from the alleged conduct. View "Indigo LR LLC, et al. v. Advanced Ins. Brokerage, et al." on Justia Law