Maryland Casualty Company v. McGrath. W.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 18, 2015
Docket269 MDA 2015
StatusUnpublished

This text of Maryland Casualty Company v. McGrath. W. (Maryland Casualty Company v. McGrath. W.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Maryland Casualty Company v. McGrath. W., (Pa. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

J-A26018-15

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

MARYLAND CASUALTY COMPANY, IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA v.

WARREN MCGRATH AND NANCY ZIHALA- MCGRATH, MARTIN BURRIDGE D/B/A BURRIDGE TENT RENTALS, MARTIN BURRIDGE, INDIVIDUALLY

APPEAL OF: WARREN MCGRATH AND NANCY ZIHALA-MCGRATH

No. 269 MDA 2015

Appeal from the Order Entered January 27, 2015 in the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne County Civil Division at No.: 2013 CV 8099

BEFORE: FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E., WECHT, J., and PLATT, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY PLATT, J.: FILED DECEMBER 18, 2015

Appellants, Warren McGrath and his wife, Nancy Zihala-McGrath,

appeal from the order granting summary judgment in favor of Appellee,

Maryland Casualty Company and, in a related case, the order denying their

motion for summary judgment. We affirm on the basis of the trial court

opinion.

This is the first of two companion cases, which were listed

consecutively. The same parties are involved and the issues are similar. To

the extent possible, both of our decisions are identical. ____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. J-A26018-15

The trial court filed one opinion which applies to both cases. (See

Trial Court Opinion, 1/27/15, at 1-10). In its opinion, the trial court fully

and correctly sets forth the relevant facts and procedural history of this

case. Therefore, we have no reason to restate them at length here.

For context and the convenience of the reader we note briefly that the

over-arching issue in both cases is the McGraths’ claim for coverage by

Maryland Casualty for their injuries from a motor vehicle accident involving

Martin Burridge, doing business as Burridge Tent Rental[s] (Burridge). As

the name suggests, Burridge operated a seasonal rental business which

provided tents, tables and chairs for outdoor activities, which he transported

in his pick-up truck. Burridge’s business was insured under a commercial

general liability policy (CGL) issued by Appellee Maryland Casualty. 1

On the day of the accident, Burridge’s load of tables and chairs

became unfastened from the tie-down straps and fell onto the roadway.

Warren McGrath was operating his motorcycle in the opposite direction when

he collided with a chair which had fallen off Burridge’s truck. His motorcycle

flipped, he was thrown, and he alleges he suffered multiple serious injuries.

The McGraths filed a complaint against Burridge. They argued, inter

alia, that Burridge improperly secured the load, and transported it in a ____________________________________________

1 The actual policy was apparently underwritten by Zurich North America Small Business, an affiliate of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd., commonly known as Zurich. Zurich is not a party to these appeals.

-2- J-A26018-15

negligent manner, failing to warn, and failing to remove the obstructions

from the roadway.

Appellee Maryland Casualty maintained that it had no duty to defend

or indemnify Burridge against a claim for damages arising out of a motor

vehicle accident because all claims fell within the auto exclusion of Burridge’s

CGL policy. The auto exclusion is defined to include loading and unloading of

a vehicle.

Maryland Casualty Company filed an amended complaint against the

McGraths and Burridge, seeking a declaratory judgment that it did not have

a duty to defend or indemnify Burridge for the liability alleged in the

McGraths’ complaint against him. Eventually, the parties cross-filed motions

for summary judgment. The trial court entered declaratory judgment in

favor of Maryland Casualty. This appeal followed.

The four overlapping questions raised in both of Appellants’ briefs are

identical:

1. Whether genuine issues of material fact exist such that a grant of [s]ummary [j]udgment in favor of [Appellee] Maryland Casualty is inappropriate?

2. Whether the allegations set forth in the underlying [a]mended [c]omplaint fell within the [a]uto [e]xclusion of the [Appellee] Maryland Casualty [p]olicy?

3. Whether [Appellee] Maryland Casualty does not have a duty to defend or indemnify their insured Martin Burridge d/b/a Burridge Tent Rentals or [Appellee] Martin Burridge, individually?

4. Whether the record supported the [trial c]ourt’s conclusions that [the a]uto [e]xclusion of the Maryland Casualty

-3- J-A26018-15

[p]olicy is applicable based upon the facts of record and the reasonable expectations of the insured?

(Appellants’ Brief, at 5).2

The McGraths argue from Burridge’s deposition that Burridge had a

reasonable expectation of coverage. On appeal they now maintain that the

representations of Maryland Casualty, Burridge’s expectation of coverage,

and the reasonableness of his expectation are issues of fact precluding

summary judgment (their own cross-motion for summary judgment

notwithstanding). (See Appellants’ Brief, at 41). We disagree.

Initially, we note our standard of review of a trial court’s decision in a declaratory judgment action is narrow. Because declaratory judgment actions arise in equity, we will set aside the judgment of the trial court only where it is not supported by adequate evidence. The test is not whether we would have reached the same result on the evidence presented, but whether the trial court’s conclusion can reasonably be drawn from the evidence.

Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Cummings, 652 A.2d 1338, 1340-41 (Pa.

Super. 1994), appeal denied, 659 A.2d 988 (Pa. 1995) (citations omitted).

Summary judgment may be granted only where there is no genuine issue of material fact, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Pa.R.C.P. 1035.2(1)[.] In making this assessment, we view the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, and all doubts as to the existence of a genuine issue of material fact must be resolved ____________________________________________

2 Burridge filed a joinder, pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 2137, joining in all briefs filed by or on behalf of the McGraths in this appeal.

-4- J-A26018-15

against the moving party. The scope of review of an order granting summary judgment is plenary. The standard of review provides we reverse the trial court’s order only where the court committed an error of law or clearly abused its discretion. To the extent the issues before us are questions of law, our standard of review is de novo; thus, we need not defer to the lower court’s determinations.

Belden & Blake Corp. v. Commonwealth, 969 A.2d 528, 531 (Pa. 2009)

(case citations and quotation marks omitted).

[T]he interpretation of an insurance policy is a question of law for the Court. Having so stated, we note that “where . . . the language of [a] . . . contract [of insurance] is clear and unambiguous, a court is required to give effect to that language.” Standard Venetian Blind Co. v. American Empire Ins. Co., 503 Pa. 300, 469 A.2d 563, 566 (1983).

Duffy v. Nationwide Ins. Co., 542 A.2d 144, 145 (Pa. Super. 1988) (one

citation omitted).

After a thorough review of the record, the briefs of the parties, the

applicable law, and the well-reasoned opinion of the trial court we conclude

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