Mafcote, Inc. v. Continental Casualty Insurance

144 F. App'x 449
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedMay 17, 2005
Docket04-3534
StatusUnpublished

This text of 144 F. App'x 449 (Mafcote, Inc. v. Continental Casualty Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mafcote, Inc. v. Continental Casualty Insurance, 144 F. App'x 449 (6th Cir. 2005).

Opinion

*450 PER CURIAM.

Mafeote, Inc. (“Mafeote”) appeals the district court’s 1 grant of summary judgment to the Defendant, Continental Casualty Insurance Company (“Continental”), in a dispute over coverage under a casualty and business interruption policy that Continental issued to Mafeote. We affirm the district court.

I.

The underlying facts are not in dispute. Mafeote is an industrial manufacturer and distributor of paper products. Mafcote’s subsidiary, Royal Consumer Products, LLC (“Royal”), purchased raw materials from another Mafeote subsidiary, Miami Wabash. On or about July 16, 2001, Miami Wabash’s steam boiler failed, temporarily interrupting its coated paper production. After a temporary boiler was installed and coated paper production resumed, Miami Wabash prioritized its backlog by filling orders for outside customers before filling orders for its affiliates. This caused a critical material shortage for Royal, forcing it to purchase coated paper on the open market at a premium of $220,697.61.

At the time of the mechanical failure, Mafeote held a boiler and machinery equipment policy issued by Continental (the “Policy”). While the exact contours of the Policy are contested, the parties agree that it generally contemplated business interruption and extra expense coverage for losses caused by mechanical failures. Continental fully indemnified Miami Wabash for the cost of installing a temporary boiler and fixing its main boiler, but denied Mafcote’s claim for business interruption and extra expenses incurred by Royal.

II.

The issue before us on appeal is whether the terms of the Policy provide coverage to each subsidiary individually or collective coverage to Mafeote and all of its subsidiaries. The parties agree that the laws of the State of Ohio control in this diversity action.

We review the district court’s entry of summary judgment de novo. Employers Ins. of Wausau v. Petroleum Specialties, Inc., 69 F.3d 98, 101 (6th Cir.1995). Our task is not to “weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A genuine issue for trial exists only where there is sufficient evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the non-moving party. Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Accordingly, we will affirm the district court if there are no material facts in dispute and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed.R.CivP. 56(c).

While the Ohio Supreme Court has not ruled on the precise issue presented in this case, Ohio case law strongly suggests that, lacking contractual language to the contrary, multiple corporate entities listed as named insured parties are covered individually, not collectively. “Parent and subsidiary corporations are distinct legal entities.” Hoover Universal, Inc. v. Limbach, 61 Ohio St.3d 563, 575 N.E.2d 811, 814 (1991). As separate legal entities, each named insured corporation has distinct rights and obligations when both are listed as named insured parties on an insurance policy. Linko v. Indemn. Ins. Co. *451 of N. Am., 90 Ohio St.3d 445, 789 N.E.2d 338, 343 (2000) (holding that parent corporation could not waive uninsured motorist/under insured motorist coverage without written consent of subsidiary). This distinction of legal entities continues when the parent corporation owns all of the outstanding stock of the subsidiary. Mut. Holding Co. v. Limbach, 71 Ohio St.3d 59, 641 N.E.2d 1080, 1081 (1994). Likewise, this distinction continues if the parent and the subsidiary act through common employees, have integrated operations, and carry on a close working relationship. Inlow v. Davis, No. CA2002-08-071, 2003 WL 21373154, *4 (Ohio App. June 16, 2003) (unpublished).

This result is consistent with other state court decisions addressing the same issue on similar facts. See e.g. Unijax, Inc. v. Factory Ins. Ass’n, 328 So.2d 448, 452 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1976) (holding that parent corporation could not recover for its lost profits incurred after subsidiary suffered a fire even though both were listed as named insured on the business interruption insurance policy); Gordon Chem. Co., Inc. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 358 Mass. 632, 266 N.E.2d 653, 657 (1971) (rejecting insurer’s argument that all corporations named as insured on policy should be treated as one entity under policy when calculating loss of net profits under a business interruption policy after destruction of one subsidiary’s manufacturing facility); see also 3 Couch on Insurance § 40:15 (3rd ed. 2003) (“Where a parent corporation and it subsidiaries are covered by the same policy, rights of subsidiaries are wholly separate and [the] parent has no right to recover for loss suffered by subsidiary.”); compare Wood Goods Galore, Inc. v. Reinsurance Ass’n of Minn., 478 N.W.2d 205, 210 (Minn.Ct.App.1991) (allowing insured to recover under business interruption policy for lost retail sales at one location after an accident at its remote manufacturing facility since both facilities were owned by a single corporate entity); contra Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh v. Anderson-Prichard Oil Corp., 141 F.2d 443, 446 (10th Cir.1944) (holding that parent corporation could recover under business interruption policy for lost profits of one subsidiary resulting from accident at a separate subsidiary since the two were “integrated” operations).

We agree with the district court that, under Ohio law, the Policy provides for individual, not collective coverage. Each of Mafcote’s subsidiaxies were listed as a named insured under the Policy. Mafcote and its several subsidiaries entered into the Policy with distinct corporate identities and distinct lights. See Hoover, 575 N.E.2d at 814. One subsidiary coxdd not have legally waived a sister subsidiary’s rights under the Policy without authorization. See Linko, 739 N.E.2d at 343. By analogy, one subsidiary could not have enjoyed a sister subsidiary’s rights under the Policy without contractual language to the contrary. Such language is lacking in the Policy.

While the Policy listed the several subsidiaries as named insured parties, it contained no language creating additional rights for one subsidiary to x*ecover for a loss experienced by another.

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

Related

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
477 U.S. 242 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Unijax, Inc. v. Factory Insurance Association
328 So. 2d 448 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1976)
Wood Goods Galore, Inc. v. Reinsurance Ass'n of Minnesota
478 N.W.2d 205 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1991)
GORDON CHEMICAL CO. INC. v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co.
266 N.E.2d 653 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1971)
Linko v. Indemnity Insurance Co. of North America
2000 Ohio 92 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2000)
Hoover Universal, Inc. v. Limbach
575 N.E.2d 811 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1991)
Mutual Holding Co. v. Limbach
641 N.E.2d 1080 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
144 F. App'x 449, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mafcote-inc-v-continental-casualty-insurance-ca6-2005.