Pride Transportation v. Continental Casualty Co.

804 F. Supp. 2d 520, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34609, 2011 WL 1197306
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedMarch 31, 2011
DocketAction No. 4:08-CV-007-Y
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 804 F. Supp. 2d 520 (Pride Transportation v. Continental Casualty Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pride Transportation v. Continental Casualty Co., 804 F. Supp. 2d 520, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34609, 2011 WL 1197306 (N.D. Tex. 2011).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

TERRY R. MEANS, District Judge.

Pending before the Court is the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by defendant Lexington Insurance Company (“Lexington”) (doc. 147). Also pending before the Court is a similar motion filed by defendant Continental Casualty Company (“Continental”) (doc. 150). After review of [523]*523the motions, the related briefs, the evidence highlighted therein, and the applicable law, the Court concludes that the motions should be granted.

I. Facts

This insurance dispute arises because of an underlying lawsuit filed as a result of an automobile accident that occurred in Texas on October 11, 2006. The underlying lawsuit was filed in the 271st Judicial District Court, Wise County, Texas, by Wayne and Linda Hatley against the plaintiff herein, Pride Transportation (“Pride”), and one of its employees, Krystal Harbin. Pride, a Utah corporation, is a large-fleet interstate motor carrier with drivers operating throughout the United States. At the time of the accident, Harbin was driving one of Pride’s trucks and rear-ended the pick-up truck being driven by Wayne Hatley on southbound U.S. Highway 287 near Decatur, Texas. As a result of the accident, Hatley sustained significant injuries and was rendered a paraplegic.

The Hatleys’ lawsuit alleged negligence against both Harbin and Pride. The petition alleged that Pride was responsible for Harbin’s actions under the doctrines of respondeat superior and/or vicarious liability and under federal and state motor-carrier safety regulations. The suit sought damages for past and future medical expenses, lost earnings and future loss of earning capacity, past and future physical impairment, past and future disfigurement, past and future pain and mental anguish, past and future loss of household services, past and future loss of consortium, and property damage to the Hatleys’ vehicle.

At the time of the accident, Pride was covered by insurance policies issued by each of the defendants. Pride obtained the insurance to “protect its interest, to defend it and indemnify it for accidents which may occur anywhere in the United States in connection with its business operations.” (Pride’s Am. Compl. 2, ¶ 9.) Continental was Pride’s primary liability insurer and had issued Pride a policy in the amount of $1,000,000. Lexington was Pride’s excess insurer and had issued Pride a policy in the amount of $4,000,000. Harbin was an additional insured under both policies. As a result, Continental began to undertake a defense of both Pride and Harbin in the Hatleys’ lawsuit. Both policies provide that the insurer’s duty to defend or settle ends once the limit of insurance has been paid in judgments or settlements.1

On June 6, 2007, the Hatleys made a settlement demand to Harbin alone to settle the claims they had filed against her for the combined $5,000,000 limits of both policies. The demand did not include the Hatleys’ claims against Pride. A week after the demand, Pride’s counsel demanded that Continental tender its policy limits to' Lexington, which Continental did the following month. Because Continental’s policy limits had been tendered to Lexington, Lexington took over negotiations regarding the Hatleys’ settlement demand.2

Lexington initially attempted to respond to the Hatleys’ offer by seeking permission to make a counteroffer settling all claims against both defendants for the limits of both policies. The Hatleys refused, how[524]*524ever, to expand the proposed settlement to include Pride. Furthermore, Harbin’s counsel demanded that Lexington accept the offer on behalf of Harbin. Thus, Lexington accepted the offer on Harbin’s behalf on July 20, 2007. On August 17, 2007, the Hatleys signed a formal settlement agreement containing a release of all of the Hatleys’ claims against Harbin. Because its policy limits were then exhausted, Lexington withdrew from further defense of Pride.

Shortly after Lexington accepted the Hatleys’ offer to settle with Harbin, Pride filed a cross-claim for common-law indemnity against Harbin in the Hatleys’ lawsuit.3 Pride ultimately settled the Hatleys’ claims against it for an additional $2,000,000, plus notes payable to the Hatleys upon any recovery from the products-liability defendants or from Continental or Lexington.

Pride also filed this lawsuit against the insurers in Utah state court. The suit was removed to federal court and, upon Continental’s motion, transferred to this Court for the convenience of parties and witnesses under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). Pride’s amended complaint alleges that Lexington and Continental breached their contracts of insurance with Pride by failing to provide a full, complete, and adequate defense for Pride in the Hatleys’ lawsuit. Pride also contends that the insurers’s actions constitute breaches of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing and of fiduciary duties owed to Pride. Finally, Pride alleges an alternative cause of action under the Texas Insurance Code, in the event the Court determines that Texas law applies. The insurers now seek summary judgment on Pride’s claims.

II. Summary-Judgment Standard

Summary judgment is appropriate when the record establishes “that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). To determine whether there are any genuine issues of material fact, the Court must first consult the applicable substantive law to ascertain what factual issues are material. Lavespere v. Niagara Mach. & Tool Works, 910 F.2d 167, 178 (5th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 859, 114 S.Ct. 171, 126 L.Ed.2d 131 (1993). Next, the Court must review the evidence on those issues, viewing the facts and inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Id.; Newell v. Oxford Management Inc., 912 F.2d 793, 795 (5th Cir.1990); Medlin v. Palmer, 874 F.2d 1085, 1089 (5th Cir.1989).

In making its determination on the motion, the Court must look at the full record including the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions on file, and affidavits. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c); see Williams v. Adams, 836 F.2d 958, 961 (5th Cir.1988). Rule 56, however, “does not impose on the district court a duty to sift through the record in search of evidence to support a party’s [motion for or] opposition to summary judgment.” Skotak v. Tenneco Resins, Inc., 953 F.2d 909, 915-16 & n. 7 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 832, 113 S.Ct. 98, 121 L.Ed.2d 59 (1992). Instead, parties should “identify specific evidence in the record, and ... articulate the 'precise manner’ in which that evidence supports] their claim.” Forsyth v. Barr,

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804 F. Supp. 2d 520, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34609, 2011 WL 1197306, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pride-transportation-v-continental-casualty-co-txnd-2011.