Kruid v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co.

770 N.W.2d 652, 17 Neb. Ct. App. 687
CourtNebraska Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 16, 2009
DocketA-08-883
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 770 N.W.2d 652 (Kruid v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kruid v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co., 770 N.W.2d 652, 17 Neb. Ct. App. 687 (Neb. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

770 N.W.2d 652 (2009)
17 Neb. App. 687

John KRUID, appellant,
v.
FARM BUREAU MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY and WESTERN AGRICULTURAL INSURANCE COMPANY, appellees.

No. A-08-883.

Court of Appeals of Nebraska.

June 16, 2009.

*655 George H. Moyer, of Moyer, Egley, Fullner & Montag, for appellant.

Anne E. Winner, of Keating, O'Gara, Nedved & Peter, P.C., L.L.O., Lincoln, for appellees.

INBODY, Chief Judge, and CASSEL, Judge.

CASSEL, Judge.

INTRODUCTION

John Kruid filed a declaratory action seeking a judgment that his Nebraska workers' compensation insurance policy covered an employee working solely at Kruid's South Dakota business location. The district court granted the insurers' motion for summary judgment on the basis that the terms of the policy did not cover such an employee. Because the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act (the Act) mandates that workers' compensation insurance policies cover all employees who fall within the purview of the Act, we conclude that the district court erred in finding that the terms of the policy limited coverage to employees located in Nebraska and in granting summary judgment.

BACKGROUND

Because the only motion for summary judgment filed was that of the insurers, we state the facts in the light most favorable to Kruid, the nonmoving party.

At some time during the spring of 2004, Bruce Knutson claimed to have suffered a sciatic nerve injury while he was employed by Kruid. Knutson worked at Kruid's business location in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, called Pax Equipment. Knutson worked for Kruid only in South Dakota. Kruid's workers' compensation insurance carriers, Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company and Western Agricultural Insurance Company (collectively Farm Bureau), denied coverage.

Kruid owned Madison Farm Supply (Farm Supply) in Madison, Nebraska. Farm Supply sells livestock feeding equipment, assembles feed bins, and functions as a warehouse that distributes Pax brand *656 equipment to dealers. Kruid has employees in Madison who help him run the business.

In 1999, Kruid purchased the Pax Equipment location to serve as a warehouse. Kruid's purpose in purchasing Pax Equipment was to provide his customers in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa with a more convenient location to pick up the Pax merchandise they had ordered.

In Kruid's deposition, he testified that Knutson was a full-time employee of Farm Supply in 2004. Kruid also responded affirmatively to the statement that in "2004,... Knutson ... came on board, allegedly originally intended to be a full-time employee, but actually turned out [to be] a part-time employee of Pax Equipment."

Kruid owned both business locations personally and did not transact business through any form of business entity. Kruid conducted the administrative functions for both Farm Supply and Pax Equipment in Madison and maintained all business records there. Further, Kruid ran both locations in conjunction with his sales job with the distributing company that manufactured Pax brand equipment. In Kruid's deposition, he specifically denied that he considered Farm Supply and Pax Equipment as separate businesses. He explained:

The only reason we kept Pax Equipment o[r] Pax on the building in Sioux Falls was to identify what the company was. ... Our feed bins, our brand names. We could easily have called it Madison Farm Supply, Sioux Falls warehouse, but our dealers and customers would have no idea what that was. We needed to keep the Pax logo on the building.

Kruid's workers' compensation insurance policy with Farm Bureau listed "John Kruid D/B/A Madison Farm Supply" as the insured and typically listed "604 Industrial Pkw Rd Madison NE 68748" (one year's policy had minor immaterial variations in the address) as the location of the business insured. The policy provided as follows regarding the locations it covered: "E. Locations This policy covers all of your workplaces listed in Items 1 or 4 of the Information Page; and it covers all other workplaces in Item 3.A. states unless you have other insurance or are self-insured for such workplaces." No workplaces other than the Madison location were listed, and the only state listed under 3.A. was Nebraska. No other portion of the policy provided coverage in states not listed.

After Farm Bureau denied Knutson's claim, Kruid filed a complaint in the district court for Madison County, Nebraska, in which he alleged that the policy covered "his employees in South Dakota and, in particular, the claim of ... Knutson." Kruid requested a judgment in the amount of the attorney fees he had expended in defending Knutson's subsequent workers' compensation claim in South Dakota and a declaration that the policy covered his South Dakota employees. Kruid also alleged a second cause of action for reformation of the insurance contract. Farm Bureau filed an amended answer denying that coverage was provided under the policy and alleging that Kruid made misrepresentations on his application for insurance.

Farm Bureau moved for summary judgment on Kruid's first cause of action only, which sought a declaratory judgment that the policy provided coverage. Kruid did not file a motion for summary judgment.

The district court granted Farm Bureau's motion for summary judgment. The court reasoned that the terms of the policy did not provide coverage for Kruid's employees in South Dakota. Kruid then appealed to this court in case No. A-08-443, *657 which we summarily dismissed on June 2, 2008, because of the unresolved second cause of action. After the district court granted Kruid's motion to voluntarily dismiss his second cause of action, he timely appealed to this court.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

Kruid assigns that the district court erred in (1) finding that Farm Bureau's workers' compensation policies did not cover employees working in South Dakota and (2) sustaining Farm Bureau's motion for summary judgment.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Summary judgment is proper if the pleadings and admissible evidence offered at the hearing show that there is no genuine issue as to any material facts or as to the ultimate inferences that may be drawn from those facts and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Jardine v. McVey, 276 Neb. 1023, 759 N.W.2d 690 (2009). In reviewing a summary judgment, the court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the party against whom the judgment was granted, and the court gives that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences deducible from the evidence. Id.

ANALYSIS

We find that the district court erred in granting Farm Bureau's motion for summary judgment. Although in the instant case the terms of the insurance policy cover only workplaces in Nebraska, the Act mandates additional coverage and, to the extent of any conflict, overrides the insurance contract.

Kruid does not contend that the applicable policy, on its face, covers employees located solely outside of Nebraska. The plain language of the policy made it clear that the terms of the policy did not cover employees working solely outside of Nebraska. When the terms of a contract are clear, they are to be accorded their plain and ordinary meaning. Pavers, Inc. v. Board of Regents, 276 Neb. 559, 755 N.W.2d 400 (2008).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
770 N.W.2d 652, 17 Neb. Ct. App. 687, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kruid-v-farm-bureau-mut-ins-co-nebctapp-2009.