Associated Electric & Gas Insurance Services Ltd. v. American International Group, Inc.

166 F. Supp. 3d 1248, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180631, 2015 WL 11670151
CourtDistrict Court, D. Utah
DecidedFebruary 19, 2015
DocketCase No. 2:11-cv-00368-RJS
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 166 F. Supp. 3d 1248 (Associated Electric & Gas Insurance Services Ltd. v. American International Group, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Associated Electric & Gas Insurance Services Ltd. v. American International Group, Inc., 166 F. Supp. 3d 1248, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180631, 2015 WL 11670151 (D. Utah 2015).

Opinion

[1250]*1250MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

ROBERT J. SHELBY, United States District Judge

This is a dispute between insurance companies. Associated Electric & Gas Insurance Services (AEGIS) seeks reimbursement from National Union Fire Insurance Company for settlement payments arising out of three underlying lawsuits. The parties have filed cross-motions for summary judgment. AEGIS has also filed a Rule 56(d) motion. For the reasons stated below, the court grants in part and denies in part AEGIS’s and National Union’s motions for summary judgment, and grants in part AEGIS’s Rule 56(d) Motion.

BACKGROUND

The Crandall Canyon Mine was a coal mine in Emery County, Utah. Intermoun-tain Power Agency, Inc. (IPA) owned a fifty-percent share in the mine and designated Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) as its operating agent with primary responsibility for its interest. Andalex Resources, Inc. owned the other fifty-percent share and its subsidiary, Genwal Resources, Inc., operated the mine. -Andalex is a subsidiary of Uta-hAmerican Energy, which is a subsidiary of Murray Energy Corporation.

In 2007, the mine collapsed. Six miners and three rescue workers died and at least six other rescue workers were injured. The injured rescue workers and the families of the deceased individuals sued Murray Energy, UtahAmerican, Andalex, IPA, LADWP, and Agapita Associates, Inc. (a mine engineering firm). In all, there were three underlying lawsuits. The plaintiffs’ claims were generally based on negligence and wrongful death.

All three lawsuits were resolved in May 2009 as part of a global settlement agreement. Four different insurance companies contributed to the settlement:

(1) Federal Insurance Company: Murray Energy held a policy with Federal Insurance, which provided coverage of $1,000,000 per occurrence with a $2,000,000 aggregate limit. The policy listed Murray Energy as the named insured; an endorsement listed UtahAmerican, Andalex, and Genwal as named insureds. A separate endorsement listed the IPA board of directors, LADWP, the City of Los Angeles, and LADWP’s board of directors as additional insureds. Federal Insurance contributed 7% of the settlement on behalf of Murray Energy, UtahAmerican, Andalex, Genwal, LADWP, and IPA.
(2) Lexington Insurance Company: Murray Energy also held a commercial umbrella policy from Lexington Insurance with a limit of $2,000,000 per occurrence and in the aggregate. The Lexington Policy’s schedule of underlying insurance identified the Federal Policy. The Lexington Policy also stated that it covered any person or organization named as an insured in an underlying policy. Thus, the parties named as insureds in the Federal Policy were also insured under the Lexington Policy. Additionally, an endorsement in the Lexington Policy named Andalex and Genwal as insured parties. Lexington Insurance contributed 7% of the settlement on behalf of Murray Energy, UtahAmeri-can, Andalex, Genwal, LADWP, and IPA.
(3) National Union Fire Insurance Company: Murray also held a commercial umbrella policy from National Union that provided coverage of $23,000,000 per occurrence and in the aggregate. In part, the policy covered “any person or organization, other than the Named Insured, included as an additional insured under Scheduled [1251]*1251Underlying Insurance.”1 The schedule of underlying insurance identified the Federal Policy, meaning the National Union Policy covered additional insureds listed in the Federal Policy. By endorsement, the National Union Policy also named UtahAmerican, An-dalex, and Genwal. National Union contributed 18% of the settlement on behalf of Murray Energy and Uta-hAmerican.
(4) AEGIS: LADWP held an excess liability policy from AEGIS, which provided coverage of $35,000,000 per occurrence. The AEGIS Policy, by endorsement, named as insureds Gen-wal, Andalex, and IPA with respect to liability involving the Crandall Canyon Mine. AEGIS contributed 68% of the settlement on behalf of IPA, LADWP, and Andalex.

In this lawsuit, AEGIS seeks reimbursement from National Union for settlement payments made on behalf of IPA, LADWP, and Andalex. To determine how to properly allocate liability between AEGIS and National Union, it is necessary to consider the insuring agreements and other-insurance clauses in the respective policies. The table below compares the policies.

[1252]*1252[[Image here]]

Based on the parties’ stipulation, there are two phases in this litigation.2 In this first phase, the parties have limited their discovery and summary judgment motions to issues surrounding the interpretation of the insurance policies. Additional issues, including factual disputes surrounding the mine collapse and resulting injuries, are reserved for the second phase.

ANALYSIS

The parties dispute (1) whether the National Union Policy covers IPA, LADWP, and Genwal; (2) whether the National Union Policy is excess to the AEGIS Policy; and (3) whether National Union must reimburse AEGIS the excess amount AEGIS contributed to the settlement. Neither party disputes that the National Union Policy covers Andalex, which is a named insured.3 [1253]*1253The court first lays out the applicable legal standard then takes up the disputed issues.

I. Legal Standard

The court grants summary judgment when “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”4 The court “view[s] the evidence and make[s] all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.”5

II. Insured Status of LADWP, IPA, An-dalex, and Genwal

The parties dispute whether the National Union Policy covers IPA, LADWP, and Genwal. To determine if the insurance policies provide coverage, the court applies principles of contract interpretation to the relevant policies.6

a. IPA

The IPA board of directors is named by endorsement as an additional insured in the Federal Policy. The National Union Policy’s schedule of underlying insurance identifies the Federal Policy in its schedule of underlying insurance, meaning any additional insured under the Federal Policy is insured under the National Union Policy. The Federal Policy states that an additional insured is covered “only with respect to their liability arising out of your acts or failure to act.”7 The terms “you” and “your” in the contract refer to named insureds.8 Therefore, an additional insured is covered for liability arising out of a named insured’s acts or failure to act.

AEGIS argues that the fact the Federal Insurance Company acknowledged coverage of IPA, LADWP, and Genwal is significant, if not dispositive. In other words, because the company that drafted the Federal Policy acknowledged coverage by paying the policy limits toward the settlement, the court should find that the National Union Policy also provides coverage.

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166 F. Supp. 3d 1248, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180631, 2015 WL 11670151, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/associated-electric-gas-insurance-services-ltd-v-american-international-utd-2015.