Michael Lancaster v. Ferrell Paving, Inc. v. Everest Indemnity Insurance Company

397 S.W.3d 606, 2011 WL 4357308, 2011 Tenn. App. LEXIS 507
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedSeptember 20, 2011
DocketW2010-02632-COA-R3-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 397 S.W.3d 606 (Michael Lancaster v. Ferrell Paving, Inc. v. Everest Indemnity Insurance Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Michael Lancaster v. Ferrell Paving, Inc. v. Everest Indemnity Insurance Company, 397 S.W.3d 606, 2011 WL 4357308, 2011 Tenn. App. LEXIS 507 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION

ALAN E. HIGHERS, P.J., W.S.,

delivered the opinion of the Court,

in which HOLLY M. KIRBY, J., and J. STEVEN STAFFORD, J., joined.

This appeal involves a dispute over whether the appellant was provided with coverage under an additional insured endorsement to an insurance policy. The trial court granted summary judgment to the insurer, finding no coverage. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

I.Facts & ProCedural History

Ferrell Paving, Inc. (“Ferrell”) utilizes a warehouse located at 1993 Chelsea Avenue in Memphis for storage of its construction materials. For many years, Ferrell has employed Imperial Guard Service, Inc. (“Imperial Guard”) to provide security guard services at various locations owned by it and related entities, including the Chelsea Avenue warehouse. On May 10, 2007, one of Imperial Guard’s security guards, Michael Lancaster, was shot by intruders while he was on duty and providing services for Ferrell at the Chelsea Avenue warehouse. Mr. Lancaster sued Ferrell, alleging that Ferrell was negligent in failing to protect him from foreseeable criminal attacks.

Ferrell believed that it was covered as an additional insured under Imperial Guard’s commercial general liability insurance policy, so it tendered its defense to Imperial Guard’s insurer, Everest Indemnity Insurance Company (“Insurer”). After being notified that its tender of defense was rejected, Ferrell filed a third party complaint against Insurer, asking the court to declare the rights and obligations of the parties and to require Insurer to defend Ferrell in the suit filed by Mr. Lancaster. Insurer filed a motion for summary judgment, contending that Ferrell did not qualify as an additional insured under the policy, and even if it did, the policy did not provide coverage for the alleged negligence of an additional insured. The trial court ultimately concluded that Ferrell was an additional insured under the policy, but that it was not provided with coverage where it was allegedly negligent. Accordingly, the trial court granted summary judgment to Insurer. Ferrell timely filed a notice of appeal. 1

II.Issues Presented

On appeal, Ferrell contends that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to Insurer on the basis that Ferrell was not entitled to coverage with regard to allegations of its own negligence. Insurer disputes this contention but also claims that summary judgment was proper on the alternative ground that Ferrell did not qualify as an additional insured in the first place. For the following reasons, we reverse the trial court’s order granting summary judgment to Insurer and remand for further proceedings.

III.Standard of Review

“Issues regarding an insurer’s duty to defend are matters of law and may be resolved by summary judgment when *610 there are no genuine issues as to any material fact.” Travelers Indent. Co. of America v. Moore & Assocs., Inc., 216 S.W.3d 302, 305 (Tenn.2007) (citing Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Chester-O’Donley & Assocs., Inc., 972 S.W.2d 1, 6 (Tenn.Ct. App.1998)). Whether a duty to defend arises depends solely on the allegations contained in the underlying complaint. Id. (citing St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. Torpoco, 879 S.W.2d 831, 835 (Tenn.1994)). “[T]he insurer has a duty to defend when the underlying complaint alleges damages that are within the risk covered by the insurance contract and for which there is a potential basis for recovery.” Id.

In general, courts should construe insurance policies in the same manner as any other contract. American Justice Ins. Reciprocal v. Hutchison, 15 S.W.3d 811, 814 (Tenn.2000). “An insurance policy must be interpreted fairly and reasonably, giving the language its usual and ordinary meaning.” Naifeh v. Valley Forge Life Ins. Co., 204 S.W.3d 758, 768 (Tenn.2006) (citing Parker v. Provident Life & Acc. Ins. Co., 582 S.W.2d 380, 383 (Tenn.1979)). The policy language must be taken and understood in its plain, ordinary, and popular sense. Hutchison, 15 S.W.3d at 814. We review a trial court’s interpretation of contract language de novo with no presumption of correctness. Moore & Assocs., Inc., 216 S.W.3d at 305.

IV. Discussion

Imperial Guard’s commercial general liability insurance policy included the following endorsement regarding additional insureds:

A. Section II — Who is An Insured is amended to include as an insured the person or organization shown in the Schedule, but only with respect to liability arising out of your ongoing operations performed for that insured.

The aforementioned Schedule did not name a specific person or organization, but instead stated, “BLANKET WHERE REQUIRED BY CONTRACT.” 2

Imperial Guard and Ferrell had entered into a written contract entitled “Security Service Agreement” in 2003, and the parties were still operating under the terms of that contract at the time of the shooting in 2007. The Security Service Agreement did not mention additional insured status. However, it is undisputed that at some point, a representative of Ferrell, Richard Davis, made an oral request to Imperial Guard’s First Vice President of Client Relations, Roger Talerico, to have Ferrell added to Imperial Guard’s insurance policy as an additional insured. Mr. Talerico then informed Imperial Guard’s owner, R.Q. Brewer, of the request, and Mr. Brewer or someone acting on his behalf contacted Imperial Guard’s insurance broker and requested that Ferrell be added to its policy as an additional insured. The insurance broker then issued a “Certificate of Liability Insurance,” which listed Ferrell Paving as the “certificate holder” and provided, “Certificate holder is named an additional insured.” Despite these facts, Insurer insists that Ferrell does not qualify as an additional insured based upon two separate sections of the additional insured endorsement. 3

*611 A. “Where Required by Contract”

Insurer first argues that, according to the language of the policy, specifically, the endorsement quoted above, Ferrell cannot qualify as an additional insured because its status as an additional insured was not “required by contract.” 4

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
397 S.W.3d 606, 2011 WL 4357308, 2011 Tenn. App. LEXIS 507, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/michael-lancaster-v-ferrell-paving-inc-v-everest-indemnity-insurance-tennctapp-2011.