Independent School District No. 197 v. Accident & Casualty Insurance of Winterthur

525 N.W.2d 600, 1995 Minn. App. LEXIS 47, 1995 WL 6766
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedJanuary 10, 1995
DocketC3-94-827, C3-94-830 and C6-94-854
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 525 N.W.2d 600 (Independent School District No. 197 v. Accident & Casualty Insurance of Winterthur) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Independent School District No. 197 v. Accident & Casualty Insurance of Winterthur, 525 N.W.2d 600, 1995 Minn. App. LEXIS 47, 1995 WL 6766 (Mich. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinions

OPINION

SHORT, Judge.

This action is a garnishment action brought by five Minnesota school districts (“schools”) and W.R. Grace & Co.-Conn. (“Grace”). The schools and Grace seek a declaration that excess insurance policies issued from 1973 through 1984 provide coverage for the underlying asbestos-related building claims and argue the insurers are required to pay an eighteen-million-dollar judgment against Grace. The trial court granted a series of judgments in favor of the schools and Grace. Three groups of insurers1 appealed those judgments, and we consolidated their appeals. The insurers argue the trial court: (1) abused its discretion in declining to dismiss the action on grounds of forum non conveniens; (2) erred in granting summary judgment because disputed issues of material fact exist with respect to Grace’s expectations, possible misrepresentations by Grace, and the reasonableness of Grace’s settlement agreement with the schools; and (3) erred in concluding that pollution exclusions do not bar coverage for asbestos-related building claims.

FACTS

Between 1968 and 1973, the schools installed Monokote-3 spray-applied fireproofing [604]*604and Hi-Sorb acoustical plaster. Grace produced and sold these building products, both of which contain asbestos.

In 1983, Grace asserted asbestos-related coverage claims against its insurers in two actions in federal court in New York. One action has determined coverage issues under the primary policies. Maryland Casualty Co. v. W.R. Grace & Co., 23 F.3d 617, 624 (2d Cir.1993) (applying the “injury-in-fact” trigger of coverage, under which insurers are obligated on the risk undertaken when asbestos was installed in the buildings involved in the underlying lawsuits against Grace), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 655, 130 L.Ed.2d 559 (1994). The second action will determine coverage under Grace’s excess policies. Maryland Casualty Co. v. W.R. Grace & Co.-Conn., No. 88 Civ. 2613, 1994 WL 592267 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 26,1994) (granting excess insurers’ motions for summary judgment except as to First State Insurance Company’s 1975 policy and dismissing Grace’s claim for a declaratory judgment that the excess insurers owe Grace a duty of coverage).

In 1987, Minnesota schools began to assert that release of asbestos fibers from Grace’s products contaminated their buildings. The schools sued Grace in Minnesota for compensatory and punitive damages. After extensive discovery, the parties resolved their differences in a settlement executed in 1991. Under the settlement terms, Grace confessed judgment for eighteen million dollars, the schools agreed to pursue judgment solely against Grace’s insurers, and Grace promised to advance nine million dollars to the schools and to seek repayment of this sum only if the schools were successful in their claims against Grace’s insurers. Grace also provided the schools with its national counsel and paid all attorney fees incurred in pursuing claims against the insurers.

In 1991, the schools and Grace brought this garnishment action in Minnesota against Grace’s insurers. The trial court denied the insurers’ motion to dismiss on grounds of forum non conveniens. In 1992, the trial court concluded the settlement between the schools and Grace was reasonable as a matter of law and held the policies’ pollution exclusions did not bar coverage. The trial court granted partial summary judgment in favor of the schools and Grace. Discovery closed in August 1993, and trial was set for October 1993. On September 13 and 14, 1993, the trial court heard motions for summary judgment. Ten days later, the trial court reopened discovery and postponed trial until November 29,1993. On October 18, the trial court ordered Grace to produce more than 1,800 boxes of documents. On November 2, before Grace produced the documents, the trial court told the parties it had decided to grant summary judgment in favor of the schools and Grace on all remaining issues. On January 24, 1994, the trial court entered judgment in favor of the schools and Grace.

ISSUES

I.Did the trial court abuse its discretion in concluding Minnesota was a convenient forum?
II.Do any disputed issues of material fact preclude summary judgment?
III.Do the excess insurance policies’ pollution exclusion clauses preclude coverage for losses resulting from asbestos contamination as a matter of law?

ANALYSIS

I.

Minnesota forum non conveniens law establishes a strong presumption in favor of the plaintiffs choice of forum. Bergquist v. Medtronic, Inc., 379 N.W.2d 508, 511 (Minn.1986). To rebut that presumption, a defendant must show that a series of public and private interest factors weigh in favor of an alternative forum. Those factors include: (1) the relative ease of access to sources of proof; (2) the availability of compulsory process for the attendance of willing witnesses; (3) the cost of obtaining attendance of willing witnesses; (4) the administrative burdens a lawsuit will impose upon a court; (5) the interest in having localized controversies decided at home; and (6) the court’s familiarity with the applicable law. Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert, 330 U.S. 501, 508-09, 67 S.Ct. 839, 843, 91 L.Ed. 1055 (1947). The trial court is [605]*605to exercise broad discretion in deciding whether to dismiss an action on grounds of forum non conveniens, and we will not reverse the trial court’s decision unless we find that there has been an abuse of discretion. Bergquist, 379 N.W.2d at 511-12; In re Florance, 360 N.W.2d 626, 632 (Minn.1985).

The insurers argue the trial court abused its discretion by failing to dismiss the action on forum non conveniens grounds in favor of jurisdiction in New York. The record, however, shows that: (1) the schools and Grace commenced this garnishment action in Minnesota; (2) the case involves claims of damage to property located in Minnesota, enforcement of a settlement agreement executed in Minnesota, and interpretation of numerous insurance policies; (3) the underlying action between the schools and Grace was commenced, litigated, and settled in Minnesota; (4) Grace settled the underlying lawsuit pursuant to Miller v. Shugart, 316 N.W.2d 729 (Minn.1982); and (5) both New York and Minnesota recognize the “actual injury” trigger of coverage. See Northern States Power, Co. v. Fidelity & Casualty Co. of N.Y., 517 N.W.2d 918, 922 (Minn.1994) (“only those policies in effect when damage occurred are triggered”); Continental Casualty Co. v. Rapid-American Corp., 80 N.Y.2d 640, 593 N.Y.S.2d 966, 971-72, 609 N.E.2d 506, 511-12 (1993) (adopting an “injury-in-faet” trigger of coverage, “which rests on when the injury, sickness, disease, or disability actually began”).

Under these facts, we cannot say the trial court abused its discretion in concluding the insurers failed to rebut the presumption in favor of the schools’ and Grace’s choice of Minnesota as the proper forum for this action.

II.

Minn.R.Civ.P. 56.03 authorizes summary judgment when no genuine issue exists as to any material fact and where determination of the applicable law will resolve the controversy. See Wartnick, v. Moss & Barnett,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
525 N.W.2d 600, 1995 Minn. App. LEXIS 47, 1995 WL 6766, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/independent-school-district-no-197-v-accident-casualty-insurance-of-minnctapp-1995.