Continental Casualty Co. v. Board of Education

489 A.2d 536, 302 Md. 516, 1985 Md. LEXIS 563
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedMarch 12, 1985
DocketMisc. No. 7, September Term, 1984
StatusPublished
Cited by69 cases

This text of 489 A.2d 536 (Continental Casualty Co. v. Board of Education) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Continental Casualty Co. v. Board of Education, 489 A.2d 536, 302 Md. 516, 1985 Md. LEXIS 563 (Md. 1985).

Opinion

RODOWSKY, Judge.

In this case the insurer and insured under a policy providing a form of directors’ and officers’ (D & 0) liability insurance dispute the extent of the insurer’s liability for counsel fees and expenses incurred by the insured in defense of a suit which alleged both covered and noncovered claims 4g&inst the insured. The parties also dispute the liability of the insurer for the counsel fees and expenses incurred by the insured in prosecuting the instant action. We shall hold that fees and expenses which are reasonably related to the defense of a covered claim may ordinarily be allocated wholly to that covered claim. We shall also hold that the insurer is liable for the insured’s fees and expenses in this case.

For a policy period of August 1, 1976, to August 1, 1979, Continental Casualty Company (CNA) issued to the Board of Education of Charles County, Maryland (the Board) a “Board of Education Liability Including School District Reimbursement Policy.” The policy was issued with an optional broad form of coverage under which “Assureds” were “[a]ll persons who were, now are or shall be employed by the School District____”

In the insuring clause of the basic policy CNA agreed

(a) With the Assureds that if, during the policy period any claim or claims are made against them ... for a Wrongful Act occurring during the policy period, the Insurer will pay on behalf of ... the Assureds ... for *521 all loss [sic] which the said Assureds or any of them shall become legally obligated to pay;
(b) With the School District that if, during the policy period, any claim or claims are made against the Assureds ... for a Wrongful Act occurring during the policy period, the Insurer will pay on behalf of ... the School District all loss for which the School District may be required or permitted by law to indemnify such Assureds.

By the “Liberalization Endorsement” the insuring clause was amended to add subparagraph (c) which reads:

“(c) With the School District that if during the policy period any claim or claims are made against it as a result of any Wrongful Act occurring during the policy period, the Insurer will pay on behalf of [sic] ... all loss which the School District shall become legally obligated to pay.”

“Wrongful Act” is defined in the policy to

mean any actual or alleged errors or misstatement or misleading statement or act or omission or neglect or breach of duty by the Assureds in the discharge of their duties, individually or collectively, or any matter claimed against them solely by reason of their being or having been Assureds during this policy period.

By the “Liberalization Endorsement” to the basic policy, “Loss” was defined to

“mean any amount which the Assured or School District are legally obligated to pay, including, but not limited to, any amounts which the School District may be required or permitted to pay as indemnity to an Assured, for a claim or claims made against an Assured for a Wrongful Act and shall include but not be limited to damages, judgments, settlements and costs, cost of investigation and defense of legal actions ... claims or proceedings and appeals therefrom, costs of attachment or similar bonds, provided always, however, such subject of loss shall not include fines imposed by the law, or matters *522 which shall be deemed uninsurable under the law pursuant to which this policy shall be construed.” [ 1 ]

The policy provisions relating to “Costs, Charges and Expenses,” as amended by the “Liberalization Endorsement,” read:

“(a) The Assureds and/or the School District shall select and retain legal counsel to represent them in the defense and appeal of any claim, suit, action or proceeding covered under this policy, but no fees, costs or expenses shall be incurred or settlements made, without the Insurer’s consent, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld.”
“(b) The Insurer may at its option and upon request, advance on behalf of an Assured, and/or the School District fees, costs and expenses which have been incurred in connection with claims made against an Assured, prior to disposition of such claims, provided always that, in the event it is finally established the Insurer has no liability hereunder, each agrees to repay to the Insurer, upon demand, all monies advanced on their behalf pursuant to this provision.”

The Board’s policy from CNA provides for a $1,000 retention as to “[e]ach loss” and a limit of liability of $3,000,000 which is the “[m]aximum annual aggregate.”

As a result of an exclusion also added by the “Liberalization Endorsement,” the policy does not cover any “Loss” resulting from breach of a construction contract. 2 Natural *523 ly, the litigation which spawned the subject case arose out of a construction contract.

On or about August 10, 1976, the Board entered into a contract with lorio Construction Co., Inc. (lorio) under which lorio was to build a new high school in La Plata, Maryland. By letter dated August 29, 1979, the Board, acting through the Superintendent of Schools, gave notice that it was terminating the contract. That letter “enclosed a copy of the Architect’s recommendation for termination ... on the basis that [the lorio] firm has failed to supply enough properly skilled workmen or proper materials to finish the project in a timely fashion.” lorio responded by letter of September 10, 1979, which in part reads:

Your attempt at terminating our contract is absurd when viewed in the light of the incontrovertible fact that all of our work is virtually complete. The project has been occupied for months and has been in use by faculty, supervisory personnel and students. Your refusal to formally take occupancy of the project despite the fact that it has been operational and used for many, many months is unconscionable.
Such tactics can only be explained by your expressed desire to withhold, for no cogent reason, our long overdue contract balance.

In October 1979 lorio filed suit against the Board and others in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. 3 Iorio’s claims sounded both in contract and in tort. Among the Board’s codefendants were certain governmental entities, the partnership of the project’s archi *524 tects, two individual architects from that firm, and three Assureds under the CNA policy, M. William Runyon (Runyon), the Assistant Superintendent of Business and Supporting Services for the Board, Jesse L. Starkey (Starkey), Superintendent of Schools for the Board, and Joseph J. Lavorgna (Lavorgna), Director of School Facilities for the Board. The Board, in December 1979, asked CNA to acknowledge coverage of the claims asserted by lorio against the Board and its employees. CNA in early 1980 denied coverage.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
489 A.2d 536, 302 Md. 516, 1985 Md. LEXIS 563, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/continental-casualty-co-v-board-of-education-md-1985.