Hartford Fire Insurance v. Gandy Dancer, LLC

981 F. Supp. 2d 981, 2013 WL 5934489, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156735
District Court, D. New Mexico·Decided August 30, 2013·No. No. CIV 10-0137 JB/RHS·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JAMES 0. BROWNING, District Judge.

THIS MATTER comes before the Court on The Hartford Fire Insurance Company’s Motion for Summary Judgment Regarding Personal and Advertising Injury Coverage and Memorandum in Support, filed September 27, 2012 (Doc. 83)(“2nd MSJ”). The Court held a hearing on January 7, 2013. The primary issue is whether the “Personal and Advertising Injury” provision of the insurance policies that Plaintiff and Counterdefendant The Hartford Fire Insurance Company issued to Defendant Gandy Dancer, LLC is ambiguous, or covers Defendant Roy D. Mercer LLC’s allegations of trespass and nuisance in the underlying state court action. The Court determines that the terms “premises,” “person,” and “occupy” are ambiguous, and the Court must construe these terms against The Hartford as the drafter of the policies. The Court will construe the 2nd MSJ as a motion to reconsider its previous holding that the term “owner, landlord or lessor” does not exclude coverage for Defendant BNSF Railway Company and Gandy Dancer, and the Court will reconsider its previous holding in the Memorandum Opinion and Order, filed March 28, 2012 (Doc. 74), 864 F.Supp.2d 1157 (D.N.M.2012) (“March 28 MOO”) in part. The Court will not reconsider [986] whether BNSF Railway has an ownership interest in the property at issue within the term of the policies, because The Hartford fails to notify the Court of a change in the facts or controlling law which counsel it to reconsider its holding that BNSF Railway has an ownership interest. On the other hand, the Court reconsiders whether Mercer LLC’s allegations of trespass and nuisance allege a wrongful eviction, entry, or invasion of right of private occupancy committed by or on behalf of BNSF Railway, and the Court concludes that the policies do not cover Mercer LLC’s trespass claim. The Court also concludes that Mercer LLC’s allegations of nuisance are potentially within policies’ scope of coverage for a personal and advertising injury, and the Court does not change its previous holding that the allegations of nuisance trigger The Hartford’s duty to defend. Accordingly, the 2nd MSJ is granted in part and denied in part.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

This ease involves the construction of a water diversion system in 2006, over which litigation is taking place in state court. The Hartford seeks a declaratory judgment that the facts alleged in the underlying state litigation do not give rise to insurance coverage under the policies it issued. Many of the material facts are undisputed.

The Hartford issued a policy of business liability to Defendant Gandy Dancer, LLC titled “Policy Number 21 UUN QZ5048,” with effective dates from August 8, 2005, through August 8, 2006. 2nd MSJ ¶ 1, at 2 (citing Commercial General Liability Coverage Form, filed September 27, 2012 (Doc. 83)(“05-06 Gandy Dancer Policy”))(setting forth this fact).1 The Hart[987] ford also asserts that it issued a business liability insurance policy to Gandy Dancer titled “Policy Number 21 UUN QZ5048,” with policy dates of August 8, 2006, through August 8, 2007. 2nd MSJ ¶ 2, at 2 (citing Commercial General Liability Coverage Form, filed September 27, 2012 (Doc. 83)(“06-07 Gandy Dancer Policy”))(setting forth this fact).2 The Policies provide for Personal and Advertising Injury Liability for enumerated offenses defined in the Policies. See 2nd MSJ ¶ 3, at 2 (citing 05-06 Gandy Dancer Policy at 15; 06-07 Gandy Dancer Policy at 19 (collectively, “the Gandy Dancer Policies”))(setting forth this fact); BNSF Railway Company’s Response Brief in Opposition to the Hartford Fire Insurance Company’s Motion for Summary Judgment Regarding Personal and Advertising Injury Coverage ¶ 3 at 5, filed October 22, 2012 (Doc. 87)(“BNSF Response”). The Gandy Dancer Policies define a “Personal and Advertising Injury” as:

injury, including consequential “bodily injury” arising out of one or more of the following offenses:
a.False arrest, detention or imprisonment;
b. Malicious prosecution;
c. The wrongful eviction from, wrongful entry into, or invasion of the right to private occupancy of a room, dwelling or premises that a person occupies, committed by or on behalf of its owner, landlord or lessor;
d. Oral, written or electronic publication of material that slanders or libels a person or organization or disparages a person’s or organization’s goods, products or services;
e. Oral, written or electronic publication of material that violates a person’s right of privacy;
f. Copying, in your “advertisement”, a person’s or organization’s “advertising idea” or style of “advertisement”;
g. Infringement of copyright, slogan, or title of any literary or artistic work, in your “advertisement”; or
h. Discrimination or humiliation that results in injury to the feelings or reputation of a natural person.

2nd MSJ ¶ 3, at 2-3 (citing 05-06 Policy at 5; 06-07 Policy at 5)(setting forth this fact).3 Gandy Dancer is the named in[988] sured on the Gandy Dancer Policies, and The Hartford has assumed, at least for the purpose of The Hartford Fire Insurance Company’s Motion for Summary Judgment Declaring that the Terms of the Policy Issued to Gandy Dancer do not Provide Coverage for Roy D. Mercer LLC’s Claims Against BNSF and Gandy Dancer, filed June 10, 2011 (Doc. 37), that BNSF Railway qualifies as an additional insured. See March 28 MOO, 864 F.Supp.2d at 1162.

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Hartford Fire Insurance v. Gandy Dancer, LLC, 981 F. Supp. 2d 981, 2013 WL 5934489, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156735 (D.N.M. 2013).

981 F. Supp. 2d 981 (Hartford Fire Insurance v. Gandy Dancer, LLC) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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