Curtis Park Group, LLC v. Allied World Specialty Insurance Company

District Court, D. Colorado·Decided August 31, 2023·No. 1:20-cv-00552·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney

Civil Action No. 20-cv-00552-CNS-NRN

CURTIS PARK GROUP, LLC,

Plaintiff,

v.

ALLIED WORLD SPECIALTY INSURANCE COMPANY,

Defendant.

ORDER

Plaintiff Curtis Park Group, LLC (“Curtis Park”), filed this lawsuit in February 2020, arising from the construction of several buildings in Denver, Colorado, and the deflection of the “concrete podium deck”—a slab—atop which those buildings were constructed (ECF No. 5 at 4 ¶ 9).1 Curtis Park sued Defendant Allied World Specialty Insurance Company (“Allied World”) for breach of contract, common law insurance bad faith, and statutory bad faith, alleging that Allied World wrongfully denied coverage under the parties’ insurance policy after Curtis Park sought insurance coverage following the slab’s deflection (see, e.g., id. at 7 ¶ 42). Following a seven-day jury trial, a jury found Allied World liable for breach of the parties’ insurance policy and violations of Colorado’s bad-faith insurance statute.

1 Unless otherwise noted, record citations are to material in the Electronic Case File (“ECF”); pinpoint citations are to the ECF-generated page numbers placed at the top of the documents. Before the Court are Allied World’s Renewed Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(b) (ECF No. 319), and Allied World’s Motion for a New Trial Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(a) (ECF No. 320). For the reasons set forth below, the Court DENIES Allied World’s Rule 50(b) and Rule 59(a) motions. I. BACKGROUND Central to this case are specific provisions from the parties’ “Builders’ Risk Coverage” insurance policy (the “Builders’ Risk Policy”) (see, e.g., Tr. Ex. 016-041; ECF No. 5 at 4 § 8).? “Curtis Park Group, LLC” is defined as the “Named of Insured” under the policy’s Declarations (Tr. Ex. 016-001). The Builders’ Risk Policy defines “Perils Covered” as “risks of direct physical loss or damage unless the loss is limited or caused by a peril that is excluded” (Tr. Ex. 016-050; see also id. at 016-041). The Builders’ Risk Policy contains a “Defects, Errors, and Omissions” exclusion, as well as an “Resulting Loss” exception to the exclusion:

c. Defects, Errors, And Omissions — 1) "We" do not pay for loss or damage consisting of, caused by, or resulting from an act, defect, error, or omission (negligent or not) relating lo: a) design, specifications, construction, materials, or workmanship; b) planning, zoning, development, siting, surveying, grading, or compaction; or c) maintenance, installation, renovation, remodeling, or repair. But if an act, defect, error, or omission as described above results in a covered peril, "we" do cover the loss or damage caused by that covered peril.

? Trial exhibits are referred to by their exhibit and page number; i.e., “Tr. Ex. 016-041” refers to Trial Exhibit 16 at page 41.

(Tr. Ex. 016-052).3

After lengthy pretrial proceedings, this case proceeded to trial on March 27, 2023, on all of Curtis Park’s claims against Allied World (see ECF No. 294).4 Curtis Park, a special entity company, proceeded at trial under the following theory: Curtis Park developed its “Sustainability Project,” or “S*Park,” in Denver, Colorado (ECF No. 312 at 132:17–25).5 S*Park involved the construction of five buildings: “A1, A2, A3, B, and D,” as well as the construction of a parking garage “at the bottom of [the] podium slab” (id. at 136:3–11; see also ECF No. 312 at 185–187). Curtis Park hired contractors for S*Park’s construction, including its general contractor, Milender White Residential, LLC (“Milender White”) (id. at 133:18–22; see also ECF No. 312 at 185:10–11; ECF No. 313 at 313:22–25). All Phase Construction (“All Phase”) was Milender

White’s subcontractor for pouring S*Park’s concrete, and Harris Rebar was another one of Milender White’s subcontractors for the S*Park project (ECF No. 312 at 133:18–25; see also ECF No. 313 at 434:15–25). On December 20, 2017, Curtis Park discovered that S*Park’s concrete podium slab, which supported the buildings being constructed, showed “excessive deflection”— sagging (ECF No. 312 at 136:22–24; see also ECF No. 313 at 367–68; ECF No. 317 at 1216:9– 11). Curtis Park hired a “slew of entities,” including J.R. Harris, a structural engineering consultant, to “help [them] figure out” the slab’s deflection and understand “what the fix could be”

3 Notwitstanding the parties’ competing instructions regarding the “resulting loss” exception, throughout trial the parties referred to the final phrase in the “Defects, Errors, and Omissions” exclusion as the “resulting loss” exception to the exclusion, and the Court does so in its analysis of Allied World’s post-verdict motions.

4 The Court denied Allied World’s summary judgment motion and subsequent motion to reconsider its denial of Allied World’s summary judgment motion (ECF No. 189; ECF No. 194). The Court also denied the parties’ motions to exclude expert testimony, and resolved other substantive pre-trial matters related to proposed jury instructions (ECF No. 258; ECF No. 284).

5 Pinpoint trial transcript citations are to the trial transcript page, not the ECF-generated page numbers. (ECF No. 312 at 209:17–25, 210:24–25, 211:6). Dr. Harris prepared a report regarding the slab and its deflection that Curtis Park provided to Allied World in January 2019 (see, e.g., ECF No. 312 at 254:15–24; id. at 252:10–15). Curtis Park also performed a series of tests in assessing, for instance, the slab’s thickness and its rebar positioning (ECF No. 312 at 212:22–24, 213:1–2). Milender White successfully performed the slab’s repairs by strengthening the slab with carbon fiber (ECF No. 312 at 215:2–6, 216:14–23, 217:2–3, 21–22). Notably, Curtis Park “never [was] able to find a cause of the” slab’s deflection (ECF No. 312 at 218:2; ECF No. 314 at 740:6–9). Curtis Park notified Allied World of the slab’s deflection and its insurance claim in March 2018 (see, e.g., ECF No. 317 at 1217:7–9). According to Curtis Park, after investigating the cause of the slab’s deflection with Milender White and All Phase, Allied World improperly denied Curtis

Park insurance coverage for damages related to the slab’s deflection pursuant to the parties’ Builders’ Risk Policy, and on the grounds that, in a supplemental coverage denial letter, Curtis Park’s investigation-related conduct violated the “Misrepresentation, Concealment, or Fraud” provision of the parties’ policy (ECF No. 312 at 138–40, 148:13–19, 214:20–21; ECF No. 313 at 286–87, 361–63; ECF No. 314 at 644:7–9; ECF No. 316 at 1140:3–11; Tr. Ex. 015-010; Tr. Ex. 016-058).6 Curtis Park stressed that the Builders’ Risk Policy covered “additional separate loss or damage other than damage to the slab,” including, for instance, the “wood building” above the slab, and the loss of drywall, doors, and other housing features above the slab (ECF No. 312 at 140:21–25, 141:3–18).7

6 Allied World issued a “Reservation of Rights” letter in February 2019 regarding Curtis Park’s insurance claim and an initial coverage denial letter in August 2019 (see, e.g., ECF No. 317 at 1236:2–6; Tr. Ex. 35; Tr. Ex. 14).

7 Curtis Park and Milender White entered into a “close out” agreement (ECF No. 304 at 6). Under this agreement, the parties “closed out” their respective obligations under their construction contract, and agreed that Curtis Park, at both Allied World saw things differently. Allied World’s trial defense proceeded from the premise that this was “a construction case,” not “a case about insurance bad faith” (ECF No. 312 at 151:23–25).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Curtis Park Group, LLC v. Allied World Specialty Insurance Company, (D. Colo. 2023).

Curtis Park Group, LLC v. Allied World Specialty Insurance Company (Curtis Park Group, LLC v. Allied World Specialty Insurance Company) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Fox v. Hayes
600 F.3d 819 (Seventh Circuit, 2010)
Carr v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
312 F.3d 667 (Fifth Circuit, 2002)
Rebecca Custer v. Terex Corporation
196 F. App'x 733 (Eleventh Circuit, 2006)
Ajax Building Corp. v. Hartford Fire Insurance
358 F.3d 795 (Eleventh Circuit, 2004)
Goldsmith v. Bagby Elevator Co., Inc.
513 F.3d 1261 (Eleventh Circuit, 2008)
Gallick v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
372 U.S. 108 (Supreme Court, 1963)
Shugart v. Central Rural Electric Cooperative
110 F.3d 1501 (Tenth Circuit, 1997)
Questar Pipeline Co. v. Grynberg
201 F.3d 1277 (Tenth Circuit, 2000)
Heno v. Sprint/United Management Co.
208 F.3d 847 (Tenth Circuit, 2000)
Hynes v. Energy West, Inc.
211 F.3d 1193 (Tenth Circuit, 2000)
Domann v. Vigil
261 F.3d 980 (Tenth Circuit, 2001)
Senters v. Black & Decker (U.S.), Inc.
123 F. App'x 354 (Tenth Circuit, 2005)
Johnson v. ABLT Trucking Co.
412 F.3d 1138 (Tenth Circuit, 2005)
Loughridge v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
431 F.3d 1268 (Tenth Circuit, 2005)
Level 3 Communications, LLC v. Liebert Corp.
535 F.3d 1146 (Tenth Circuit, 2008)
Russo v. Ballard Medical Products
550 F.3d 1004 (Tenth Circuit, 2008)
Cassady v. Goering
567 F.3d 628 (Tenth Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Dawes (In Re Dawes)
652 F.3d 1236 (Tenth Circuit, 2011)
Klefstad v. American Cent. Ins. Co.
207 F.2d 288 (Seventh Circuit, 1953)