Atl. Cas. Ins. Co. v. Crum

364 F. Supp. 3d 1123
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedJanuary 29, 2019
DocketNo. 1:17-cv-00459-DAD-SKO
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 364 F. Supp. 3d 1123 (Atl. Cas. Ins. Co. v. Crum) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Atl. Cas. Ins. Co. v. Crum, 364 F. Supp. 3d 1123 (E.D. Cal. 2019).

Opinion

Dale A. Drozd, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

*1127This matter is before the court on plaintiff's motion for summary judgment. (Doc. No. 18.) A hearing on the motion was held on November 20, 2018. Attorney Brian M. Weiss appeared telephonically on behalf of plaintiff Atlantic Casualty Insurance Company ("ACIC"), and Attorney Linda J. DeVore appeared in person on behalf of defendant Sam Crum Water Well Drilling, Inc. ("WDI"). Having considered the parties' briefs and oral arguments, and for the reasons set forth below, the court will grant plaintiff's motion for summary judgment in part.

BACKGROUND

In this declaratory relief action ACIC seeks a declaration from this court that, as a matter of law, the damages sought against WDI in an underlying state court action are not covered under the insurance policy it issued WDI (the "ACIC policy") and that ACIC therefore has no duty to defend or indemnify WDI with respect to the underlying state court action. (Doc. No. 5 at 2, 13-14.) ACIC also seeks a declaration that it is entitled to reimbursement for the fees and costs it has incurred in defending WDI in that state court action to date. (Id. at 2, 14-15.) WDI counters that ACIC has a duty to defend and indemnify WDI in the underlying action pursuant to the ACIC policy.1 (See Doc. No. 25.)

The material facts of this case are undisputed and, as relevant to the pending motion, are set forth below.

A. The Underlying State Court Action

On February 10, 2016, Paul E. Parreira2 ("Parreira") filed a complaint in the Merced County Superior Court naming Sam Crum3 and WDI as the defendants. (Doc. No. 18 at 13.) Parreira's complaint sought the award of damages for breach of contract, common counts, and negligence.

*1128(Id. at 13-14.) That complaint alleges the following. On or around March 22, 2014, Parreira and WDI entered into a contract whereby WDI agreed to drill, case, and preliminarily develop two water wells (the "Arroya well" and the "Cozzi well") in rural Merced County. (Id. ) In exchange, Parreira agreed to pay $ 78,845 for the Arroya well and $ 81,970 for the Cozzi well. (Id. ) Each well was to produce between 1400 and 1800 gallons of water per minute. (Id. at 13.)

Around June 2014, WDI "breached the contract by failing to deliver working wells as agreed upon, and failing to report the accurate location of [the Arroya well], thus rendering the County permit null and void and rendering the [Arroya] well unusable." (Doc. No. 5 at 11.) In addition to the contract prices for both wells, in his action pending in state court, Parreira seeks $ 25,549 in damages for remediation costs, for a total breach amount sought of $ 188,364 on the breach of contract claim. (Id. ) In the common counts cause of action, Parreira alleges that WDI "became indebted to [Parreira] for money paid, laid out[,] and expended to or for defendant at defendant's special instance and request in the amount of $ 188,364." (Id. ) Parreira also contends that WDI negligently built the wells because they produced one-half of their expected water output. (Doc. No. 18 at 14-15.) Lastly, Parreira claims that WDI "negligently and carelessly measured the distance of [the Arroya well] from an existing residential water well such that the [Arroya] well had to be destroyed." (Id. )

WDI tendered the underlying action to ACIC for a defense and indemnification under the ACIC policy. (Doc. No. 5 at 12.) On March 16, 2016, ACIC issued a reservation of rights letter to WDI advising that it agreed to provide WDI with a defense in the underlying action subject to the reservation of rights letter and to the terms, conditions, limitations, and exclusions of the ACIC policy. (Id. ) ACIC retained defense counsel on behalf of WDI, which defense remains in place to date. (Id. )

B. The ACIC Insurance Policy

ACIC issued Commercial General Liability ("CGL") insurance policy number L214000157 to WDI for the policy period of March 2, 2014 to March 2, 2015. (Doc. No. 18 at 7.) The ACIC policy states:

We will pay those sums that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of "bodily injury" or "property damage" to which this insurance applies. We will have the right and duty to defend the insured against any "suit" seeking those damages. However, we will have no duty to defend the insured against any "suit" seeking damages for "bodily injury" or "property damage" to which this insurance does not apply. We may, at our discretion, investigate any "occurrence" and settle any claim or "suit" that may result.

(Doc. No. 18 at 8.) The ACIC policy "applies to 'bodily injury' and 'property damage' only if (1) [t]he 'bodily injury' or 'property damage' is caused by an 'occurrence' that takes place in the 'coverage territory'; [and] (2) [t]he 'bodily injury' or 'property damage' occurs during the policy period." (Id. ) Property damage is defined by the policy as "[p]hysical injury to tangible property, including all resulting loss of use of that property" or "[l]oss of use of tangible property that is not physically injured." (Id. at 10-11.) The policy explicitly excludes breach of contract damages from the definition of property damage. (Id. at 11.) In addition, an "occurrence" is defined in the policy as "an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions." (Id. )

*1129LEGAL STANDARD

Summary judgment is appropriate when the moving party "shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a).

In summary judgment practice, the moving party "initially bears the burden of proving the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." In re Oracle Corp. Sec. Litig. , 627 F.3d 376, 387 (9th Cir. 2010) (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett , 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) ).

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Bluebook (online)
364 F. Supp. 3d 1123, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/atl-cas-ins-co-v-crum-caed-2019.