Health-Chem Corp. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh

148 Misc. 2d 187, 559 N.Y.S.2d 435, 1990 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 377
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedMay 15, 1990
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 148 Misc. 2d 187 (Health-Chem Corp. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Health-Chem Corp. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, 148 Misc. 2d 187, 559 N.Y.S.2d 435, 1990 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 377 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1990).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Herman Cahn, J.

Motions numbered 12 and 51 of the March 13, 1990 calendar are combined for disposition.

[188]*188Plaintiff Health-Chem Corporation (hereinafter Health-Chem) moves for partial summary judgment to recover on the first and second causes of action against its insurer, defendant National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pa. (hereinafter National Union) under a directors and officers liability policy (D & O Policy) written in August 1981, and for other relief. National Union cross-moves for partial summary judgment dismissing the second and third causes of action. It also separately moves to depose two nonparty witnesses, and to strike the action from the Trial Calendar.

The D & O Policy referred to above has two parts, a company reimbursement coverage and director and officer liability coverage. We are here concerned only with the company reimbursement coverage part, which in pertinent part provides as follows: "This policy shall * * * pay on behalf of the Company in item 1 of the Declarations loss (as hereinafter defined) arising from any claim or claims * * * against each and every person, jointly or severally, who was or now is or may hereafter be a Director or Officer (as herein defined) of the Company, by reason of any Wrongful Act (as hereinafter defined) in their respective capacities as Directors or Officers of the Company, but only when the Directors or Officers shall have been entitled to indemnification by the Company for damages, judgments, settlements, costs, charges, or expenses incurred in connection with the defense of any action * * * or any appeal therefrom to which the Directors or Officers may be a party or with which they may be threatened, pursuant to law, common or statutory, or the Charter or By-Laws of the Company duly effective under such law which determines and defines such rights of indemnity” (emphasis added).

A "Wrongful Act” is defined as follows: "any breach of duty, neglect, error, misstatement, misleading statement, omission or other act done or wrongfully attempted by the Directors or Officers or any of the foregoing so alleged by any claimant or any matter claimed against them by reason of their being such Directors or Officers.”

The word "Loss” is defined as follows: "any amount the Company shall be required or permitted by law to pay to a director or officer as indemnity for a claim arising out of those matters which lead to a Wrongful Act.”

Pertinent parts of the loss provisions of the coverage state as follows:

"The Company shall as a condition precedent to its right to [189]*189be indemnified under this policy give to the Insurer notice as soon as practicable in writing of any claims made upon the Directors or Officers.

"The Company shall give the Insurer such information and cooperation as it may reasonably require and as shall be in the Company’s power.”

Clause 6 (a) in part states: "No costs, charges and expenses shall be incurred without the insurer’s consent which shall not be unreasonably withheld”.

A class action was commenced in 1982 by Raymond K. Peil (Peil action) in the Federal District Court of Pennsylvania against Health-Chem. Also named as defendants were all of its directors, certain officers, and its investment banker, Drexel Burnham Lambert. The action was based on claimed violations of Federal securities laws. At about the same time, another action was commenced by Melville A. Carty, Jr. against Health-Chem only (Carty action). National Union concedes that the allegations of the two complaints are nearly identical.

Health-Chem thereafter advised National Union pursuant to section 7 (e) of the policy that it retained or intended to retain the law firm of Schnader, Harrison, Segal and Lewis (hereinafter Schnader-Harrison) to represent it and the individual defendants in both actions. National Union acknowledged the notification and stated that its attorney would contact "Mr. Baker”.

Leon C. Baker, Esq. was the "Mr. Baker” referred to in the letter. He was Health-Chem’s general counsel, and one of its directors. He was also named as a defendant in the Peil action. The second cause of action herein seeks reimbursement for $390,000 for fees paid to him in connection with his services in defense of the actions.

After being notified of the commencement of the Peil action, National Union’s counsel transmitted a "reservation of rights” letter to Health-Chem, which noted various retentions in both portions of the policy, and the fact that as no individuals were named as defendants in the Carty action, "the National Union policy will not apply.”

After extensive discovery and motion practice, the Peil and Carty actions were tried together in 1985, before a jury, which rendered a verdict in favor of Health-Chem, its officers and directors. The judgment was later affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals.

[190]*190For the trial and appeal, a bill in the amount of $753,483 was submitted by the Schnader-Harrison law firm to Health-Chem. Health-Chem paid that amount and here seeks reimbursement from National Union.

The first cause of action seeks the approximate sum of $1,400,000 for National Union’s breach of the policy in failing to pay the costs of defense of the Peil case, including the Schnader-Harrison legal bill. The court denies summary judgment as to this cause of action since there are substantial factual issues which cannot be resolved on motion papers alone. Specifically, the Schnader-Harrison firm represented Health-Chem itself as well as its officers and directors. It is undisputed that the expense of defending the officers and directors which was required to be reimbursed by the corporation is covered under the policy (exclusive of retentions). However it is also quite apparent that the expense of defending Health-Chem itself is not covered under the policy. Thus, the loss which is covered is defined in the policy as being "any amount the company shall be required * * * to pay to a director or officer as indemnity for a claim or claims against him”. It does not include the expenses of defending Health-Chem itself.

The parties argue as to whether National Union has the right to "allocate” the expenses incurred, between those which are covered by the insurance policy, and those which are not, i.e., between those expended for parties who are covered and those not.

In PepsiCo, Inc. v Continental Cas. Co. (640 F Supp 656 [SD NY 1986]), the court approved the allocation of a settlement between defendants, where the directors and officers were insured under the policy at issue, and the corporation and its accounting firm were not.

The court determined (at 661-662) that:

"The policy clearly provides that it covers only the directors and officers of PepsiCo, not the corporation and not its accounting firm. * * *

"Allocation * * * is therefore appropriate”.

The court has not found any cases where the issue of allocation has been discussed by a New York court, nor have any such cases been cited by the parties. Considering the matter, the court finds that allocation is permitted if factually possible. National Union is only liable for the expenses of defending certain defendants. If additional expenses were [191]

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

Related

OneBeacon America Insurance v. Whitman Packaging Corp.
123 A.D.3d 443 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2014)
Murnane Building Contractors, Inc. v. Zurich American Insurance
107 A.D.3d 674 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2013)
Pfizer, Inc. v. Stryker Corp.
385 F. Supp. 2d 380 (S.D. New York, 2005)
Burt Rigid Box Inc. v. Travelers Property Casualty Corp.
126 F. Supp. 2d 596 (W.D. New York, 2001)
Raychem Corp. v. Federal Insurance
853 F. Supp. 1170 (N.D. California, 1994)
Reliance Group Holdings, Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance
188 A.D.2d 47 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
148 Misc. 2d 187, 559 N.Y.S.2d 435, 1990 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 377, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/health-chem-corp-v-national-union-fire-insurance-co-of-pittsburgh-nysupct-1990.