General Electric Co. v. Lines

26 Mass. L. Rptr. 66
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedAugust 3, 2009
DocketNo. 20063106BLS1
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 26 Mass. L. Rptr. 66 (General Electric Co. v. Lines) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
General Electric Co. v. Lines, 26 Mass. L. Rptr. 66 (Mass. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

Hinkle, Margaret R., J.

Plaintiff General Electric (“GE”) filed this action against the defendant joint liquidators of Electric Mutual Liability Insurance Company, Limited, formerly known as Electric Mutual Liability Insurance Company (“EMLICO”), alleging breach of contract from EMLICO’s refusal to defend and indemnify GE with respect to liability for environmental contamination at 103 sites located in 32 states and Puerto Rico. OneBeacon America Insurance Company (“OneBeacon”) was allowed to intervene as a defendant in this action and filed three counterclaims against GE. This matter is before the court on GE’s motion for summaiy judgment on OneBeacon’s third counterclaim under Mass.R.Civ.P. 56. For the reasons discussed below, after a hearing, GE’s motion for summary judgment is allowed.

BACKGROUND

EMLICO was organized in Massachusetts as a mutual insurance company in December of 1927. EMLICO was owned by its policyholders, and GE was at all times EMLICO’s principal corporate policyholder and primary stockholder. GE purchased numerous primary general liability insurance policies from EMLICO between 1959 and 1967. From 1959 to 1967, Employers Surplus Lines Insurance Company, the predecessor to Commercial Union (“CU”), issued a series of reinsurance contracts to EMLICO which re-insured a significant portion of EMLICO’s liability to GE. CU also issued reinsurance contracts to EMLICO between 1975 and 1979. The Reinsurance Contracts obligate CU to indemnify and reimburse EMLICO for losses EMLICO pays on its coverage obligations to GE.

[67]*67Beginning in the 1960s, GE incurred liability to state and federal environmental agencies for contamination at 103 sites located in 32 states and Puerto Rico. EMLICO refused to indemnify GE or reimburse for its costs of defending against such liability. EMLICO and GE conducted non-binding arbitration proceedings between 1985 and 1991 and reached a settlement with respect to environmental contamination claims at seven sites. In 1992, EMLICO presented reinsurance claims to CU in connection with GE’s claims, but CU rejected them.

In May of 1995, EMLICO and CU entered into binding arbitration proceedings before a three-member panel (“the Panel”) to determine the scope and extent of CU’s liability to EMLICO under the Reinsurance Contracts. GE was not a party to these proceedings. In June of 1995, EMLICO redomesticated to Bermuda with the approval of the Massachusetts Commissioner of Insurance (“the Commissioner”) and the Bermuda Minister of Finance and Bermuda Registrar of Companies. The Commissioner granted approval based on the conclusion that nothing indicated that EMLICO was insolvent or intended to pursue liquidation upon arrival in Bermuda.

EMLICO registered as a Bermuda insurer and became known as Electric Mutual Liability Insurance Company, Limited.2 On October 20, 1995, EMLICO filed a winding-up petition in the Supreme Court of Bermuda. The Bermuda court appointed defendants David E.W. Lines, Christopher Hughes and Peter C.D. Mitchell as liquidators (collectively, “the Joint Liquidators”) for EMLICO.

In 1997, the Panel divided the EMLICO/CU arbitration into three phases: Phase I to resolve CU’s claim for rescission of the Reinsurance Contracts on the ground that EMLICO breached the contracts in bad faith by colluding with GE to redomesticated in Bermuda in order to maximize its reinsurance recovery against CU; Phase II to resolve the issue of reinsurance coverage for EMLICO’s liability to GE with respect to asbestos claims; and Phase III to resolve the issue of reinsurance coverage for EMLICO’s liability to GE with respect to environmental contamination claims.

Over a two-year period, the Panel held more than 60 days of evidentiary hearings on Phase I of the proceedings. On October 31, 2001, the Panel issued an order in Phase I denying CU’s request for rescission of the Reinsurance Contracts as follows:

While the Panel is in unanimous agreement that:
(i) EMLICO deceived the Massachusetts Commissioner of Insurance and Bermuda authorities about its solvency, and
(ii) EMLICO moved to Bermuda to avoid being liquidated in Massachusetts, and
(iii) EMLICO intended to declare insolvency immediately after redomestication, because this arbitration Panel is the final adjudicator, the Panel finds that CU is no worse off in Bermuda than in Massachusetts.

The Panel clarified its order by letter dated Januaiy 26, 2002 as follows:

When the Panel stated that it was the “final adjudicator” and that CU was “no worse off,” its intent was that since the ultimate economic impact of the overall dispute between EMLICO and CU is to be decided by the Panel as part of this arbitration, the Panel will be in a position in later phases to adjust for any differences that may have resulted from the deceitfully obtained change of jurisdiction from Massachusetts to Bermuda. By this process, when the arbitration is completed, CU will end up in the same position as it would have been in had there been no redomestication.

Thereafter, CU filed a petition in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to confirm the Panel’s finding of fraud but vacate that part of the order which denied the rescission claim, arguing that public policy precluded the court from allowing EMLICO to enforce its fraudulently obtained rights under the Reinsurance Contracts. On December 18, 2002, the Southern District affirmed the Panel’s order in its entirety. See Commercial Union Ins. Co. v. Lines, 239 F.Sup.2d 351, 356 (S.D.N.Y. 2002). CU appealed that decision to the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, arguing that EMLICO’s redomestication to take advantage of more favorable liquidation procedures prejudiced CU’s rights in the arbitration. On June 19, 2003, the Panel issued a decision in Phase II, awarding EMLICO/the Joint Liquidators more than $36 million, representing CU’s share of paid asbestos losses.

In an order dated August 5, 2004, the Second Circuit vacated the District Court’s order and remanded the matter to the District Court to address whether liquidation in Bermuda could affect the results of the arbitration and whether confirming the award would violate the court’s equitable principles. See Commercial Union Ins, Co. v. Lines, 378 F.3d 204, 209-10 (2d Cir. 2004).

GE filed this action against the Joint Liquidators on July 21, 2006. CU’s successor, OneBeacon, was allowed to intervene as a defendant to interpose any available defenses to GE’s claims on behalf of EMLICO. OneBeacon asserted three counterclaims against GE. OneBeacon’s first counterclaim seeks a declaration that the policies are subject to rescission because the parties had an understanding that the policies did not cover environmental contamination, and GE failed to disclose facts regarding its intent to seek environmental contamination coverage and failed to provide environmental loss or exposure information which EMLICO could use to assess accurately the degree and character of risk it was assuming. The second counterclaim seeks a declaration that coverage is barred by GE’s constructive fraud in seeking to repudiate the [68]*68parties’ mutual understanding and agreement that the EMLICO policies did not provide coverage for environmental claims.

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Bluebook (online)
26 Mass. L. Rptr. 66, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/general-electric-co-v-lines-masssuperct-2009.