Javid Chaudhri v. State Auto Prop & Cas Ins. Co.

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: February 24, 2020
• Docket: 19-1894
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________

No. 19-1894 ___________________________

Javid Chaudhri, doing business as AJ Partnership; Arshad Chaudhri, doing business as AJ Partnership

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiffs - Appellants

v.

State Auto Property & Casualty Insurance Company

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellee

Hani Daifallah; Mohammed Daifallah

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendants ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Kansas City ____________

Submitted: February 19, 2020 Filed: February 24, 2020 [Unpublished] ____________

Before GRUENDER, WOLLMAN, and STRAS, Circuit Judges. ____________

PER CURIAM. In this diversity action, Javid and Arshad Chaudhri challenged the denial of coverage for an insurance claim. They appeal the district court’s1 adverse grant of summary judgment on their claims for breach of contract and vexatious refusal to pay.

After careful review of the record and the parties’ arguments on appeal, we conclude that the district court properly granted summary judgment. See Jackson v. Reibold, 815 F.3d 1114, 1119 (8th Cir. 2016) (standard of review); Med. Protective Co. v. Bubenik, 594 F.3d 1047, 1051 (8th Cir. 2010) (discussing Missouri law on when an insurer may deny coverage under a cooperation provision); see also BSI Constructors, Inc. v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co., 705 F.3d 330, 335 (8th Cir. 2013) (concluding that Missouri precedent compelled that a vexatious-refusal claim must fail because the insurer had no duty to cover loss at issue). Accordingly, we affirm. See 8th Cir. R. 47B. ______________________________

1 The Honorable Greg Kays, United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri.

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