Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Co. v. Finrow Painting Co.

516 P.2d 798, 10 Wash. App. 178, 1973 Wash. App. LEXIS 1096
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedDecember 12, 1973
DocketNo. 705-3
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 516 P.2d 798 (Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Co. v. Finrow Painting Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Co. v. Finrow Painting Co., 516 P.2d 798, 10 Wash. App. 178, 1973 Wash. App. LEXIS 1096 (Wash. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

McInturff, J.

Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Company (hereafter “Kaiser”),'brought this action against Fin-row Painting Co., Inc. (hereafter “Finrow”) to recover money expended by the plaintiff in defending and settling an action brought against it by Homer E. Dougall, who was employed by a subcontractor of Finrow and injured while working at Kaiser. Finrow filed a third-party claim against Almond and wife (hereafter “Almond”), Almond being an employee of Kaiser, for indemnity and judgment over against them for any judgment awarded Kaiser against Finrow.

The trial court entered judgment for Kaiser against Fin-row. It also awarded third-party plaintiff Finrow indemnity [179]*179and judgment over against third-party defendant Almond for the amount of the judgment given Kaiser against Fin-row. Third-party defendant Almond appeals from this portion of the judgment.

Kaiser and Finrow entered into a written contract on June 26, 1967, under which Finrow was to perform certain work for Kaiser. Finrow subcontracted a portion of the work under this contract to Builders Maintenance Steam Cleaners. On October 17, 1967, Dougall, an employee of Builders Maintenance Steam Cleaners, while working in the performance of the subcontract at the Kaiser plant, was injured when struck by a jeep negligently operated by Almond. Dougall commenced an action against Kaiser to recover for his personal injuries.

The Kaiser-Finrow contract contained the following indemnity provisions:

14.A. Contractor shall indemnify, save harmless and defend Owner from and against any and all suits, actions, legal proceedings, claims, demands, damages, costs and expenses of whatsoever kind or character (including but not limited to attorneys’ fees and expenses) arising out of or by reason of any liability or obligation in any manner caused or occasioned, or claimed to be caused or occasioned by, any act not expressly authorized hereby, omission, fault or negligence of Contractor or anyone acting on his behalf (including but not limited to subcontractors and vendors, their subcontractors and subven-dors, and the employees and agents of any of the foregoing) in connection with or incident to this contract or the work to be performed hereunder.
B. Without limiting the foregoing, Contractor shall indemnify, save harmless, release and defend Owner from and against any and all suits, actions, legal proceedings, claims, demands, damages, costs and expenses of whatsoever kind or character (including but not limited to attorneys’ fees and expenses) arising out of or by reason of any injuries (including death) or damage to any person or entity employed by or acting on Contractor’s behalf under this contract, including claims for damage, injury or death alleged to have been caused by the negligence of Owner, its agents or employees.

[180]*180Further, section 15 of the Kaiser-Finrow contract, in pertinent part provided:

15. Insurance. Contractors shall procure and maintain the following insurance:
C. . . . All insurance policies shall be in form and insured by insurance company satisfactory to owner and shall contain the following two clauses: . . . (ii) the insurer waives any right to subrogation against Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation, its agents and employees, which might arise by reason of any payment under this policy.

On February 2, 1968, Kaiser tendered the defense of the Dougall action to Finrow, based upon the above contract indemnity provisions. Finrow’s insurer, St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company, accepted the tender of the defense of the Dougall action by written correspondence of March 1, 1968. Defense of the Dougall action was reten-dered to Kaiser on May 22, 1968, on the theory that the indemnity provisions of the contract were invalid under RCW 4.24.115.1 Kaiser accepted the retender of the defense without prejudicing its rights against Finrow under the contract, and Kaiser subsequently in good faith settled the Dougall action for $10,000.

[181]*181Kaiser then commenced an action against Finrow under the contract, seeking recovery of the Dougall settlement plus costs, including attorney fees which had been incurred. Finrow filed a third-party complaint against Almond, seeking judgment over against Almond for the amount of any judgment Kaiser might recover. On August 4, 1972, the trial court entered judgment in favor of Kaiser against Finrow in the amount of $11,654.68, which included costs and attorney fees. The trial court further granted Finrow judgment over against Almond for a like amount.

This appeal is taken only on the third-party action and concerns the singular question of whether the Kaiser-Fin-row contract prohibited Finrow from seeking indemnity from a Kaiser employee for liabilities incurred by Finrow under the provisions of the contract. The trial court concluded that the terms of the Kaiser-Finrow contract prohibited only Finrow’s insurer and not Finrow from bringing the third-party action.

The contract provisions are not subject to varying interpretations in that it is clearly provided that (1) Finrow shall “indemnify, save harmless, release and defend” Kaiser from “all suits, actions, legal proceedings, . . . costs and expenses . . .” arising as a result of injuries or damage to any person employed or acting on Finrow’s behalf under the contract, including claims arising from the negligence of Kaiser, its agents or employees; and (2) Fin-row shall provide insurance coverage with limits as specified, covering liabilities assumed under the indemnity provisions of the contract, in which the insurer agrees to waive the right to subrogation against Kaiser, its agents and employees which might arise by reason of payment under the policy.

Almond contends, contrary to the trial court’s holding, that as a matter of law, the Kaiser-Finrow contract precludes Finrow’s third-party action against him. He reasons that the obvious intent of the insurance provisions of the contract was clearly to protect Kaiser, its agents and employees from just such a third-party action as is here being [182]*182pursued by Finrow against Almond, and further, Almond is a third-party beneficiary of the Kaiser-Finrow contract and as such can rely upon the insurance provisions of the contract against Finrow. We agree for both reasons.

In Vikingstad v. Baggott, 46 Wn.2d 494, 496-97, 282 P.2d 824 (1955), the court quoted with approval from Annot, 81 A.L.R. 1271,1287 (1932):

“If the terms of the contract necessarily require the promisor to confer a benefit upon a third person, then the contract, and hence the parties thereto, contemplate a benefit to the third person . . . [Citation]; and this should be sufficient to enable the latter to enforce the contract, although it also worked to the advantage of the immediate parties thereto . . . [citations], and although the actual purpose motivating the parties in making the provision in question was the purely selfish one of benefiting or protecting themselves, rather than of benefiting the third person.

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

Related

Lonsdale v. Chesterfield
573 P.2d 822 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1978)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
516 P.2d 798, 10 Wash. App. 178, 1973 Wash. App. LEXIS 1096, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kaiser-aluminum-chemical-co-v-finrow-painting-co-washctapp-1973.