Caudill Seed & Warehouse Co. v. Houston Casualty Co.

835 F. Supp. 2d 329, 2011 WL 6370366, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146418
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Kentucky
DecidedDecember 20, 2011
DocketCivil Action No. 3:10-CV-299-JHM
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 835 F. Supp. 2d 329 (Caudill Seed & Warehouse Co. v. Houston Casualty Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Caudill Seed & Warehouse Co. v. Houston Casualty Co., 835 F. Supp. 2d 329, 2011 WL 6370366, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146418 (W.D. Ky. 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JOSEPH H. McKINLEY, JR., Chief Judge.

This matter is before the Court upon Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment filed by Plaintiff Caudill Seed & Warehouse Co., Inc. (“Caudill Seed”) [DN 40] and Defendant Houston Casualty Company (“Houston Casualty”)[DN 41]. Fully briefed, this matter is ripe for decision. For the reasons discussed below, Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment is denied and Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is granted in part and denied in part.

I. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Before the Court may grant a motion for summary judgment, it must find that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). The moving party bears the initial burden of specifying the basis for its motion and of identifying that portion of the record which demonstrates the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Once the moving party satisfies this burden, the non-moving party thereafter must produce specific facts demonstrating a genuine issue of fact for trial. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

[332]*332Although the Court must review the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, the non-moving party is required to do more than simply show there is some “metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). The rule requires the non-moving party to present specific facts showing that a genuine factual issue exists by “citing to particular parts of materials in the record” or by “showing that the materials cited do not establish the absence ... of a genuine dispute!.]” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(1). “The mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the [non-moving party’s] position will be insufficient; there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the [non-moving party].” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

II. BACKGROUND

This action arises out of a dispute over the interpretation of an insurance contract between Caudill Seed and Houston Casualty. Caudill Seed produces, processes and distributes agricultural products including peanut products and alfalfa seeds. In December 2008, through Brokers Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services, Inc. and Swett & Crawford, Caudill Seed obtained insurance coverage for expenses resulting from incidents of malicious product tampering and accidental product contamination of Caudill Seed products, or publicity relating to the incidents, from Houston Casualty. During the policy period, Caudill Seed suffered two contamination incidents that are the subject of litigation, one involving peanut products and the other involving alfalfa seed.

On April 28, 2009, Plaintiff filed suit against Houston Casualty for anticipatory breach of contract, declaratory judgment, bad faith and unfair claims settlement practices for both contamination incidents. Plaintiff asserts that Defendant refused to pay the full amount of coverage owed under the accidental contamination policy. An Amended Complaint was filed on January 27, 2011. The anticipatory breach of contract claim was bifurcated from the bad faith claim. The parties have now filed cross-motions for summary judgment, Plaintiff on the anticipatory breach of contract claim and Defendant on all claims. At dispute are certain categories of losses that Plaintiff is claiming. Plaintiff claims that it is owed for lost gross profit, in-house inventory, returned material from customers, freight costs for returns, labor costs, legal fees and consulting fees for both the peanut products and alfalfa seed contamination incidents. (PL’s Mot. Summ. J. 10 [DN 40].) Defendant has adjusted Plaintiffs claims and contends that it is not liable for the peanut product claim, and, after applying the $50,000 deductible, it is liable for only a portion of the alfalfa claim. (Def.’s Mot. Summ. J. 23 [DN 41].)

III. DISCUSSION

The issues raised in the parties’ motions for summary judgment are governed by the principles of contract interpretation. The interpretation of an insurance contract is a question of law for the Court to decide. Kemper Nat’l Ins. Cos. v. Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc., 82 S.W.3d 869, 871 (Ky.2002); Equitania Ins. Co. v. Slone & Garrett, P.S.C., 191 S.W.3d 552, 556 (Ky.2006). “In construing a contract, a court’s primary objective is to ascertain and to effectuate the intention of the parties to the contract from the contract itself.” Logan Fabricom, Inc. v. AOP P’ship LLP, 2006 WL 3759412, *2 (Ky.Ct.App. December 22, 2006). “[I]n the absence of ambiguity, a written instrument will be enforced strictly according to its terms, and a court will interpret a con[333]*333tract’s terms by assigning language its ordinary meaning and without resort to extrinsic evidence.” Frear v. P.T.A. Indus., Inc., 103 S.W.3d 99, 106 (Ky.2003) (quotation and citation omitted). See also York v. Kentucky Farm Bureau Mutual Ins. Co., 156 S.W.3d 291, 293 (Ky.2005) (“The clear and unambiguous words of an insurance contract should be given their plain and ordinary meaning.”). However, “[i]f the contract language is ambiguous, it must be liberally construed to resolve any doubts in favor of the insured.” Wolford v. Wolford, 662 S.W.2d 835, 838 (Ky.1984). “A contract is ambiguous if a reasonable person would find it susceptible to different or inconsistent interpretations.” Cantrell Supply, Inc. v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 94 S.W.3d 381, 385 (Ky.Ct.App.2002).

As the Kentucky Supreme Court states “[t]he reasonable expectation doctrine ‘is based on the premise that policy language will be construed as laymen would understand it’ and applies only to policies with ambiguous terms — e.g., when a policy is susceptible to two or more reasonable interpretations.” True v. Raines, 99 S.W.3d 439, 443 (Ky.2003) (quoting Simon v. Continental Ins. Co., 724 S.W.2d 210 (1986)).

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Bluebook (online)
835 F. Supp. 2d 329, 2011 WL 6370366, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146418, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/caudill-seed-warehouse-co-v-houston-casualty-co-kywd-2011.