C.C., as assignee, et al. v. UNITED STATES FIDELITY & GUARANTY COMPANY, et al.

District Court, W.D. Washington·Decided January 23, 2026·No. 3:24-cv-05535·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT AT TACOMA C.C., as assignee, et al., Case No. 3:24-cv-05535-TMC Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION FOR v. PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT UNITED STATES FIDELITY & GUARANTY COMPANY, et al., Defendants.

I. INTRODUCTION Plaintiffs are former residents of the Kiwanis Vocational Home (“KVH”) who allege that they were physically and sexually abused during their time at KVH in the 1980s and 1990s. Dkt. 5 ¶ 4.17. At various times during this period, Defendants United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company (“USF&G”), Granite State Insurance Company (“Granite State”), Insurance Company of North America, and Federal Insurance Company (the latter two collectively, “Chubb”) provided insurance to Kiwanis International (“Kiwanis”). Dkt. 90-1 at 17–125, 148–267; Dkt. 90-2; Dkt. 90-3; Dkt. 90-4 at 1–64; Dkt. 92-3. Although KVH was operated by a separate organization, Lewis County Youth Enterprises (“LCYE”), Plaintiffs allege that KVH was affiliated with Kiwanis as a “major service project.” Dkt. 5 ¶ 4.16; C.C. v. Kiwanis Int’l, 568 P.3d 677, 679–80 (Wash. Ct. App. 2024), review denied, 4 Wn.3d 1030, 569 P.3d 736 (2025). Decades after the alleged abuse, Plaintiffs brought lawsuits in Washington superior court

against Kiwanis, former KVH executive director Charles McCarthy, former KVH interim executive director Guy Cornwell, and others. Id. ¶¶ 1.2–1.4; Dkt. 92-1 at 4–6. These lawsuits (the “Underlying Actions”) resulted in covenant judgments between Plaintiffs, McCarthy, and Cornwell, under which McCarthy and Cornwell assigned their rights against Defendants to Plaintiffs. Dkt. 92-1 at 6–7; Dkt. 90-12 at 99–136. Plaintiffs then filed this action against Defendants. Dkt. 1. Plaintiffs now seek partial summary judgment on four issues: (1) whether McCarthy and Cornwell are insured as Kiwanis members under certain policies issued by Defendants; (2) whether McCarthy and Cornwell are insured as Kiwanis affiliates under policies issued by

USF&G and Granite State; (3) whether McCarthy and Cornwell are insured under certain policies issued by Chubb to the extent that their liability arises from Kiwanis activities or activities on Kiwanis’s behalf; and (4) whether Washington’s “continuous trigger” rule applies such that a Plaintiff’s bodily injury would trigger coverage under a policy so long as the injury arose or continued during the time that policy was in effect. Dkt. 89 at 2–3. For the following reasons, the Court agrees with Plaintiffs that Cornwell was insured under the primary Chubb policies in effect from November 1988 to November 1991, but only for any Kiwanis activities or activities he undertook on Kiwanis’s behalf. The Court therefore GRANTS summary judgment to Plaintiffs on that narrow issue. However, the Court DENIES summary judgment on all remaining issues raised by Plaintiffs.

This litigation involves many insurance policies with different language and definitions for the policy terms therein. Below, the Court summarizes each policy that Defendants issued to Kiwanis during the relevant period. A. USF&G policies USF&G issued three primary insurance policies to Kiwanis during the relevant period: Policy 1CC A 97254, which ran from October 1977 to October 1980; Policy 1CC D 63876, which ran from October 1980 to October 1983; and Policy 1CC 017 254006, which ran from October 1983 to October 1985. Dkt. 90-1 at 16–39 (Policy ICC A 97254), 45–80 (Policy 1 CC D 63876), 81–101 (Policy 1CC D 63876); see Dkt. 91 at 4 (representing that Policy 1CC 017 254006 was canceled in October 1985). Under these policies, a “Named Insured” included Kiwanis, Kiwanis members, local Kiwanis Clubs, Kiwanis Districts, Kiwanis Divisions, subsidiaries and affiliates, Kiwanis Club Foundations, Kiwanis District Foundations, Kiwanis International Foundations, Key Clubs and members, Circle K Clubs and members, Builder Clubs and members, Kewanettes, and volunteer workers. Dkt. 90-1 at 19, 52, 91. Each policy also included an endorsement defining “persons insured” to include “any member of the Named Insured but only with respect to his liability for activities of the Named Insured or activities performed by such member on behalf of the Named Insured.” Id. at 28, 57, 94. USF&G also issued Policy CEP 126205, a first-layer excess policy that ran from May 1980 to May 1981. Id. at 40–44. Under this policy, a “Named Insured” included “the person or organization named in Section 1.1 and . . . any subsidiary thereof and any other organization coming under the Named Insured’s control and active management,” so long as written notice was provided to USF&G. Id. at 43. An “insured” included anyone insured by an underlying insurance policy “but only to the extent of the insurance afforded to such other person or organization by such underlying insurance.” Id. B. Granite State policies

Granite State issued three umbrella liability policies to Kiwanis during the relevant period: Policy 6680-7665, which ran from October 1, 1980 to October 1, 1981; Policy 6681- 8744, which ran from October 1, 1981 to October 1, 1982; and Policy 6682-9861, which ran from October 1, 1982 to October 1, 1983. Id. at 103–13 (Policy 6680-7665), 114–20 (Policy 6681-8744), 121–25 (Policy 6682-9861). These policies defined “Named Assured” to include Kiwanis, Kiwanis members, local Kiwanis Clubs, Kiwanis Districts, Kiwanis Divisions, subsidiaries and affiliates, Kiwanis Club Foundations, Kiwanis District Foundations, Kiwanis International Foundations, Key Clubs and members, Circle K Clubs and members, Builder Clubs and members, Kewanettes, and volunteer workers. Id. at 111, 116, 123. Policy 6680-7665 also

provided coverage to any person insured by the corresponding primary policy—here, USF&G Policy 1CC D 63876—“but not for broader coverage than is available” in the underlying policy. Id. at 105. C. Chubb policies The Court summarizes each policy issued by Chubb individually. 1. Insurance Company of North America (“INA”) Policy OGL G10790499 This primary policy ran from November 1988 to November 1990. Id. at 148– 217. Under this policy, Named Insureds included Kiwanis, Kiwanis Club Foundations, Kiwanis District Foundations, Kiwanis International Foundations, Key Clubs, Circle K Clubs, Builders Clubs, Kewanettes, and Kiwanianne Clubs. Id. at 178, 186, 217. A Named Insured who was designated in the policy declarations as an individual was only covered by the policy “with respect to the conduct of a business of which [the Named Insured is] the sole owner.” Id. at 156. Under this policy, members of a Named Insured organization were insured “only with respect to their liability for [the Named Insured’s] activities or activities they perform on [the Named Insured’s] behalf.” Id. at 164. The policy defined “members” to include “the entire

members of all entities listed under the heading ‘Named Insured’ as computed in accordance with the manuals in use by the company.” Id. at 195. 2. INA Policy XOO G10791455 This umbrella liability policy ran from November 1988 to November 1989. Dkt. 90-2 at 105–30. Under this policy, the “Named Insured” was defined as “Kiwanis International and its owned, controlled, subsidiary or affiliated organizations now or hereafter constituted,” which included local Kiwanis clubs, Kiwanis districts, Kiwanis divisions, Kiwanis club foundations, Kiwanis district foundations, Kiwanis international foundations, key clubs, circle K clubs, builder clubs, Kewanettes, and Kiwanianne clubs. Id. at 109–10.

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C.C., as assignee, et al. v. UNITED STATES FIDELITY & GUARANTY COMPANY, et al., (W.D. Wash. 2026).

C.C., as assignee, et al. v. UNITED STATES FIDELITY & GUARANTY COMPANY, et al. (C.C., as assignee, et al. v. UNITED STATES FIDELITY & GUARANTY COMPANY, et al.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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