General Agents Insurance Co. of America v. Mandrill Corp.

243 F. App'x 961
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJuly 13, 2007
Docket06-5524
StatusUnpublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 243 F. App'x 961 (General Agents Insurance Co. of America v. Mandrill Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
General Agents Insurance Co. of America v. Mandrill Corp., 243 F. App'x 961 (6th Cir. 2007).

Opinions

KENNEDY, Circuit Judge.

Mandrill Corporation, Inc. (“Mandrill”) appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment to defendant General Agents Insurance Company, Inc. (“GAIN-SCO”) in this declaratory judgment action. The court held that GAINSCO did not have a duty to defend Mandrill under its Commercial General Liability Policy (“CGL Policy”) in two suits for personal injury and one for wrongful death brought by persons on the Mandrill payroll who were injured or killed while performing work for Mandrill. Mandrill argues, inter alia, that these persons were not “employees” or were potentially not “employees” but rather were “temporary workers” as those terms are defined by the CGL Policy carried by Mandrill and supplied by GAINSCO and therefore not within the employer exclusion of the CGL Policy. We AFFIRM in part and REVERSE in part.

BACKGROUND

Mandrill contracted to perform demolition work at two sites in Chattanooga, Tennessee, work which it began on October 9, 2000. This was the only work engaged in by defendant in the fall and winter of 2000-01. While the project was ongoing, on February 5, 2001, for reasons that are not relevant here, a wall collapsed injuring two workers (Johnny Mathis and Robert Wynn) and killing a third (Scott Wheeler) (collectively, the “Laborers”). During the course of the demolition work, Mandrill paid the Laborers and the other [963]*963workers on the site in cash, on an hourly basis, generally weekly, and did not withhold or pay social security taxes. JA at 289.

When the wall fell Mandrill did not have workers’ compensation insurance coverage. Pursuant to a court order, its workers’ compensation insurance policy had been cancelled effective February 4, 2001 because the insurer providing the coverage had become insolvent and was in the process of liquidation. Mandrill had found new workers’ compensation coverage from another company, effective when the premium was actually paid. The premium was not paid until February 7, 2001, two days after the accident.

After the wall fell the Laborers filed separate complaints in state court seeking damages from Mandrill for their injuries on a variety of theories including workers’ compensation (required to be carried by Tennessee statute) and, because there was no workers’ compensation coverage for personal injuries and wrongful death, common law negligence. Each of the three complaints alleged that the Laborer was an employee of Mandrill, although one complaint, Wynn’s, was amended after this declaratory judgment action was filed to allege that plaintiff Wynn was an independent contractor.

Mandrill requested that GAINSCO defend it against these suits and indemnify it for any damages sustained pursuant to Mandrill’s CGL Policy. GAINSCO refused, however, because the CGL Policy excluded from coverage “bodily injury” sustained by “employees” of Mandrill in the course of their duties for Mandrill. The CGL Policy’s employer exclusion provides, in relevant part:

SECTION I—COVERAGES
2. Exclusions. This insurance does not apply to:
e. Employer’s Liability
“Bodily injury” to: (1) An “employee” of the insured arising out of and in the course of:
(a) Employment by the insured; or (b) Performing duties related to the conduct of the insured’s business....
SECTION V—DEFINITIONS
5. “Employee” includes a “leased worker.” “Employee” does not include a “temporary worker.”
9. “Leased worker” means a person leased to you by a labor leasing firm under an agreement between you and the labor leasing firm, to perform duties relating to the conduct of your business. “Leased worker” does not include a “temporary worker.”
18. “Temporary worker” means a person who is furnished to [the insured] to substitute for a permanent “employee” on leave or to meet seasonal or short-term workload conditions.

JA at 112, 118-21. The CGL Policy also excludes claims based on contractual liability. CGL Policies with employer liability exclusions are an example of a fractured insurance industry, in which one insurer will underwrite coverage of certain potential liabilities and others will underwrite other distinct liabilities.

On November 20, 2002, GAINSCO filed this declaratory judgment action to determine whether it had a duty to defend and indemnify Mandrill for the injuries sustained by the Laborers. After a certain amount of discovery, on December 1, 2003 Mandrill moved for summary judgment on all claims based on the language of the CGL Policy including its exclusions. GAINSCO filed a brief in opposition that relied on the policy exclusions and the [964]*964allegations in the injured and deceased Laborers’ complaints that they were employees. It argued that they did not fall within the definition of temporary workers under the CGL Policy. On February 19, 2004, the court granted summary judgment to GAINSCO with regard to the duty to defend because the complaints filed by the Laborers alleged that they were employees, employees were excluded from the CGL Policy’s coverage, and the duty to defend was triggered by the language of the complaint. The court, however, found that summary judgment was inappropriate at that point with regard to the duty to indemnify, because there was a genuine issue of material fact whether the Laborers should be categorized as employees or temporary workers and so reserved its decision with respect to whether the Laborers were temporary workers as defined in the CGL Policy.

Subsequently, on October 14, 2005, GAINSCO moved for summary judgment with regard to indemnification because the Laborers’ claims against Mandrill had been settled (with Mandrill not contributing to the settlement) and thus Mandrill had no further liability exposure. Mandrill, on November 3, 2005, moved for relief from the district court’s earlier order finding no duty to defend and requested its attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in its defense. It did not contest GAINSCO’s motion for summary judgment based on mootness of the duty to indemnify and that issue was not appealed. On March 16, 2006, 2006 WL 686880, the district court granted GAINSCO’s motion and denied Mandrill’s. This timely appeal followed.

ANALYSIS

I. Standard of Review

A district court’s grant of summary judgment is reviewed de novo. Williams v. Mehra, 186 F.3d 685, 689 (6th Cir.1999). Summary judgment is proper if there are no genuine issues of material fact and if the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

II. Duty to Defend

In Tennessee, as “in the overwhelming majority of jurisdictions[,] the obligation of a liability insurance company to defend an action brought against the insured by a third party is to be determined solely by the allegations in the complaint in that action.” Saint Paul Fire and Marine Ins. Co. v. Torpoco, 879 S.W.2d 831, 835 (Tenn.1994) (quoting Am. Policyholders’ Ins. Co. v. Cumberland Cold Storage Co.,

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Bluebook (online)
243 F. App'x 961, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/general-agents-insurance-co-of-america-v-mandrill-corp-ca6-2007.