Hartford Casualty Insurance Co. v. Fireman's Fund Insurance Co.

220 F. Supp. 3d 1008, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158864, 2016 WL 6778645
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedNovember 16, 2016
DocketCase No. 15-cv-02592-SI
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 220 F. Supp. 3d 1008 (Hartford Casualty Insurance Co. v. Fireman's Fund Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hartford Casualty Insurance Co. v. Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., 220 F. Supp. 3d 1008, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158864, 2016 WL 6778645 (N.D. Cal. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING BURNS & WILCOX INSURANCE SERVICES’ SECOND MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

SUSAN ILLSTON, United States District Judge

On October 28, 2016, the Court held a hearing on defendant Burns & Wilcox Insurance Services’ second motion for summary judgment. Dkt. No. 131. After careful consideration of papers submitted, the Court hereby GRANTS defendant’s motion.

BACKGROUND

I. Fireman’s Motion for Summary Judgment

This case arises from a coverage dispute under two homeowner’s insurance policies. The Court has previously heard motions for summary judgment by Burns & Wilcox insurance Services (“Bums”), which the Court denied, and Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, which the Court granted. See Dkt. Nos. 114, 120. The Court recites some of the factual background from its August 22, 2016 Order Granting Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company’s Motion for Summary Judgment below:

In 2013, a wrongful death lawsuit (the “Underljdng Action”) ultimately resulted in an approximately $8,800,000 judgment against Herndon Partners, LLC (“Hern-don”), a corporation owned by Paul Ow-hadi. The lawsuit arose after Francisco Martinez Moreno was electrocuted while working as an employee of Herndon at a home located at 31522 Broad Beach Road in Malibu, California (the “Malibu Property”) in September 2009. Kastan Decl., Ex. N, May 29, 2013 letter from Fireman’s to Owhadi (Dkt. No. 80-12) at [1012]*10122. Only Herndon held title to the Malibu Property. See Owhadi Decl. (Dkt. No. 82) ¶ 6.
Prior to the wrongful death lawsuit, plaintiff Hartford Casualty Insurance Company (“Hartford”) issued to Hern-don a business liability policy with both primary coverage ($2,000,000 limit) and excess coverage ($1,000,000 limit). SAC, Ex. C, Hartford policies (Dkt. No. 42-3) at CP127, CP143. The Hartford policies were in effect from March 19, 2009 to March 1, 2010. Id. at CP143.
Defendant Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company (“Fireman’s”) issued a primary homeowner’s policy (the “Primary Policy”), listing the Malibu Property, with a $300,000 [personal liability] limit, and named “Paul Owhadi c/o Herndon Partners LLC” as the insured and “Herndon Partners LLC” as an additional insured. Hadfield Deck, Ex. A, Primary Policy (Dkt. No. 74-2) at FF000256, FF000295. The Primary Policy was in effect from October 29, 2008 to October 29, 2009. See id. at FF000255. Fireman’s also issued an excess liability policy (the “Excess Policy”) with a $5,000,000 [personal liability] limit, effective October 2, 2008 to October 2, 2009. See Hadfield Deck, Ex. B, excess policy (Dkt. No. 74-3) at FF000146; Kastan Deck, Ex. G, email excerpts between Burns and O’Hadi (Dkt. No. 80-7) at BW000260. The Excess Policy was a personal umbrella policy that named “Paul Owhadi [and] Susan Owhadi” as insureds. See id. at BW000252; Hadfield Deck, Ex. B, excess policy (Dkt. No. 74-3) at FF000146. Both the Primary Policy and Excess Policy contained exclusions for business activity, business property, and workers’ compensation. See Had-field Deck, Ex. A, Primary Policy (Dkt. No. 74-2) at FF000280-82; Hadfield Deck, Ex. B, Excess Policy (Dkt. No. 74-3) at FF000178-180.
Hartford provided a defense to Hern-don in the wrongful death lawsuit in 2011. SAC, Ex. A, assignment agreement (Dkt. No. 42-1) at 002. Fireman’s also agreed to provide a defense to Herndon, but only under its Primary Policy. See Kastan Deck, Ex. N, May 29, 2013 letter from Fireman’s to Owhadi (Dkt. No. 80-12) at 4. Fireman’s refused to provide coverage under its Excess Policy because Herndon was not a named insured. See id. Fireman’s also cited the exclusions for business activity, business property, and workers’ compensation in the Excess Policy as reasons not to provide excess coverage. See id. at 2. Fireman’s later refused to indemnify Herndon under the Primary Policy. See SAC (Dkt. No. 42) ¶ 47.
In July 2013, following the judgment, Herndon, Paul Owhadi, and Susan Ow-hadi executed an assignment agreement with Hartford. SAC, Ex. A, assignment agreement (Dkt. 42-1) at 20. Hartford now acts as Herndon, Paul Owhadi, and Susan Owhadi’s assignee for claims against Fireman’s related to the Underlying Action and the two Fireman’s policies. SAC, Ex. A, assignment agreement (Dkt. 42-1).

Order on Fireman’s MSJ (Dkt. No. 120) at 1-3 (footnotes omitted).1

II. The Insurance Applications

The application process deserves the most attention for purposes of this motion. Hartford alleges that Burns was negligent in its role as insurance agent, when Burns assisted Mosen O’Hadi (“O’Hadi”) in placing Paul Owhadi’s (“Owhadi’s”) insurance with Fireman’s. Mosen O’Hadi is a li[1013]*1013censed retail insurance broker who was working on Paul Owhadi’s behalf, and is also Paul Owhadi’s brother.

Owhadi asked O’Hadi to procure a personal — as opposed to commercial — homeowner’s policy for the Malibu Property. Bruggemann Decl. ¶4, Ex. 3, excerpts of Owhadi Depo. (Dkt. No. 133-3) at 3-4; see id. ¶ 10, Exs. 9A, 9B, excerpts from O’Hadi Depo. (Dkt. No. 133-9) at 7, 9; see also Kastan Decl. ¶ 23, Ex. T, excerpts from O’Hadi Depo. (Dkt. No. 136-2) at 78. O’Hadi, on behalf of Owhadi, contacted Donna Bacarti (“Bacarti”), a personal lines manager at Burns, to place a homeowner’s policy on the Malibu Property. Kastan Decl. ¶ 5, Ex. B, Primary Application submitted to Burns (Dkt. No. 136-1) at 5-9; id. ¶ 23, Ex. T, excerpts from O’Hadi Depo. (Dkt. No. 136-2) at 73, 76; Brug-gemann Decl. ¶2, Ex. la, excerpts from Bacarti Depo. (Dkt. No. 133-1) at 4. O’Hadi submitted to Bacarti a “Homeowner’s Application” dated October 15, 2008 (the “Primary Application”). Id. O’Hadi submitted the application by e-mail attachment, with the note, “[Owhadi] is buying a vacation home. It is currently in escrow. It would close in ten days.... Please contact me with your concerns.” Kastan Decl. ¶ 10, Ex. G, email correspondence between O’Hadi and Bacarti (Dkt. No. 136-1) at 38; id. ¶ 23, Ex. T, excerpts from O’Hadi Depo. (Dkt. No. 136-2) at 76. The Primary Application identified the named insured as “Herndon Partners LLC” and sought to insure the Malibu Property. Kastan Decl. ¶ 5, Ex. B, Primary Application submitted to Burns (Dkt. No. 136-1) at 5. The applicant’s (Owhadi’s) occupation was “real estate investor” and the applicant’s employer was “Sierra Pacific,” a real estate development company. Id. Noting that Herndon was the named insured under the Personal Application (a non-commercial homeowner’s insurance application), Bacarti asked O’Hadi about the LLC. See Kastan Decl. ¶24, Ex. U, excerpts from Bacarti Depo. (Dkt. No. 136-2) at 90. Bacarti informed O’Hadi that an LLC could not be the named insured under a personal policy, but could be listed as an additional insured if the LLC met certain criteria. Bruggemann Decl. ¶ 2, Ex. lc, excerpts from Bacarti Depo. (Dkt. No. 133-1) at 9-10; id., Ex lg, excerpts from Bacarti Depo. (Dkt. No. 133-1) at 14. Those criteria were that the LLC was “in the name of an individual or made up of individuals,” created “for tax purposes only[,]” and “does not engage in any kind of business activities or hold any employees.” Id., Ex. lg, excerpts from Bacarti Depo. (Dkt. No. 133-1) at 14.

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220 F. Supp. 3d 1008, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158864, 2016 WL 6778645, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hartford-casualty-insurance-co-v-firemans-fund-insurance-co-cand-2016.