Allegheny Design Management, Inc. v. Travelers Indemnity Co. of America

572 F. App'x 98
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedJuly 11, 2014
Docket13-4263
StatusUnpublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 572 F. App'x 98 (Allegheny Design Management, Inc. v. Travelers Indemnity Co. of America) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Allegheny Design Management, Inc. v. Travelers Indemnity Co. of America, 572 F. App'x 98 (3d Cir. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION

RENDELL, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff Allegheny Design Management, Inc. (“ADM”) appeals the District Court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant Travelers Indemnity Company of America (“Travelers”) in connection with an insurance dispute. For the reasons set forth below, we will reject plaintiffs arguments and affirm summary judgment in favor of Travelers.

I. Factual Background

ADM was hired as a general contractor to construct a Finish Line retail store inside a mall in Las Vegas, Nevada. The terms of the agreement with Finish Line were memorialized in a General Contractor Agreement. Travelers issued a Commercial General Liability Insurance Policy to ADM in connection with its general contractor responsibilities.

ADM hired two subcontractors to work on the Finish Line project. Elite Glass and Mirrors, Inc. (“Elite”) was hired to install all glass 1 required in the project, and Gold Star Cleaning Company (“Gold Star”) was hired to do the final cleaning of the glass within the store.

Elite completed its work within two to three days of receiving the glass to be installed at the Finish Line store. Then, on October 23, 2011, Gold Star began cleaning the newly installed glass and a Gold Star representative notified the ADM Superintendent that the glass was damaged. Gold Star was instructed by ADM to continue cleaning the glass. The parties thus agree that the damage to the glass took place before Gold Star finished cleaning, and that either Gold Star or Elite caused the damage. On October 26, 2011, *100 the Finish Line store opened for business. On October 27, 2011, the Las Vegas mall’s manager issued a “punch list” for the Finish Line store, indicating that the glass had many small fine scratches.

On October 31, 2011, ADM submitted a claim to Travelers seeking coverage for the damaged glass under its insurance policy. ADM’s claim was denied. Although Finish Line’s legal department has informally asserted that ADM is obligated to pay for the damages to the glass, Finish Line has not brought suit against ADM or made a formal claim.

ADM filed a three count complaint against Travelers setting forth the following claims: (1) breach of contract; (2) declaratory judgment; and (3) bad faith. After ADM’s complaint was removed from state court to the federal District Court, Travelers moved for summary judgment, which the District Court granted. ADM appeals this ruling.

II. The Insurance Contract

Under Pennsylvania law, a contract is interpreted according to its plain language, and where a plaintiffs claim is foreclosed by the plain language of the contract, summary judgment is appropriate. See Meyer v. CUNA Mut. Ins. Soc’y 648 F.3d 154, 163 (3d Cir.2011) (“A policy must be read as a whole and its meaning construed according to its plain language”); see also Wheeler v. Graco Trucking Corp., 985 F.2d 108, 114 (3d Cir.1993) (reversing a District Court’s denial of summary judgment to defendants where it was clear that the contract did not allow for recovery). The insurance agreement states that Travelers will provide coverage for “property damage” that is caused by an “occurrence” that takes place during the policy period. (App.209.) An “occurrence” is defined as either an “accident” (which is undefined in the contract), or an act or omission that causes “subcontracted work property damage.” (App.225.) “Subcontracted work property damage,” in turn, is defined as property damage that is unexpected and unintended and is a “products-completed operations hazard.” (App.225.) The strangely-named “hazard” simply means that the property which is damaged must have been, inter alia, put to its intended use. (App.222-23.) In sum, the policy generally covers (1) accidents and (2) damage occurring after the property has been put to its intended use.

In moving for summary judgment, Travelers invoked two provisions of the insurance policy which exclude from coverage “property damage” to:

(5) That particular part of real property on which you or any contractors or subcontractors working directly or indirectly on your behalf are performing operations, if the “property damage” arises out of those operations; or
(6) That particular part of any property that must be restored, repaired or replaced because “your work” was incorrectly performed on it.

(App.212.) Of note, Exclusion 6 “does not apply to ‘property damage’ included in the ‘products-completed operations hazard.’ ” (App.213.)

III. Discussion

The District Court here concluded that there was no breach of contract because ADM had not identified a covered “occurrence.” Specifically, the Court stated that there was no evidence in the record suggesting that the damage was the result of an accident, rather than faulty workmanship. The Court also found that there was no covered “subcontracted work property damage” because there was no “products-completed operations hazard,” since the glass had yet to be put to its intended use. (App.10,13.) The Court stated that at the *101 time the glass was damaged, neither all of the work in the contract with Finish Line had been completed, nor had the glass yet been put to its intended use by Finish Line.

The Court also found that, even if the damage to the glass had been caused by an “occurrence” under the policy, Exclusions 5 and 6 both applied. Finally, the Court held that Travelers did not have a duty to defend or indemnify ADM in the absence of a suit by Finish Line, and that Travelers was entitled to summary judgment on the bad faith claim since there was no coverage under the insurance policy. ADM challenges each of these legal conclusions.

ADM argues that the damage to the glass occurred during cleaning, rather than installation and thus was necessarily the result of an accident, such that it is covered under the policy. We need not resolve this issue, however, because we agree with the District Court that Exclusion 6 applies. Exclusion 6 precludes coverage for property damage caused by the incorrect performance of work by ADM or its subcontractors. (App.212) The parties agree that one of ADM’s two subcontractors caused the property damage to the glass through improper performance of their work. By its plain terms, Exclusion 6 applies.

ADM’s response to Traveler’s invocation of Exclusion 6 is that the damage was “products-eompleted operations hazard” property damage, so Exclusion 6 does not apply. However, as we noted above, a “products-eompleted operations hazard” is defined as damage to property that has been put to its intended use. (App.222.) ADM argues that the glass was no longer physically possessed by ADM and had been put to its intended use by Finish Line. Once the glass was installed in the storefront, it urges, it was put to its intended use because Finish Line had begun stocking, inventorying and moving into the store.

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572 F. App'x 98, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/allegheny-design-management-inc-v-travelers-indemnity-co-of-america-ca3-2014.