RPM Pizza, Inc. v. Automotive Cas. Ins. Co.

601 So. 2d 1366, 57 A.L.R. 5th 841, 1992 La. LEXIS 2410, 1992 WL 153913
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedJune 26, 1992
Docket92-C-0086
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 601 So. 2d 1366 (RPM Pizza, Inc. v. Automotive Cas. Ins. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
RPM Pizza, Inc. v. Automotive Cas. Ins. Co., 601 So. 2d 1366, 57 A.L.R. 5th 841, 1992 La. LEXIS 2410, 1992 WL 153913 (La. 1992).

Opinion

601 So.2d 1366 (1992)

RPM PIZZA, INC. and National Union Insurance Company
v.
AUTOMOTIVE CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY.

No. 92-C-0086.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

June 26, 1992.
Rehearing Denied September 3, 1992.

*1367 Steven John Koehler, Leefe, Gibbs & Koehler, Metairie, for applicant.

George J. Nalley, Jr., New Orleans, for respondent.

DENNIS, Justice.

The issue genuinely raised by this case is whether an automobile liability policy clause excluding coverage "while [the auto] is being used to carry [ ] property for a fee" eliminates coverage while the vehicle owner is using the car to deliver pizza as a wage-earner employed by a pizza company. We conclude that the policy exclusion clause does not preclude coverage under these circumstances and affirm the judgments of the trial and appellate courts which reached this correct result below. 590 So.2d 1349 (La.App. 5th Cir.1991). Although we granted a writ to review the decisions below that the insurance policy exclusion clause was contrary to public policy, that question is pretermitted as having been prematurely reached by the trial and appellate courts.

The parties stipulated to findings of fact as a basis for the judgment of the trial court. Thor Schmidt ("Schmidt") and Ricky Daigle ("Daigle") were employees of RPM Pizza, Inc. ("RPM"). They were hired as pizza delivery persons and required to furnish their own transportation. The stipulated findings of fact do not state precisely how the employees were paid. However, the totality of circumstances agreed to by the parties clearly indicates that a master-servant, rather than a principal-independent contractor, relationship existed between RPM and the delivery persons. Furthermore, there is no indication that a delivery charge was levied by RPM or the individual drivers upon the customer for delivery of pizza. Consequently, the most reasonable conclusion that may be derived from the stipulated facts is that the employees were compensated by wages for their hours or time employed and not by fees on a piecemeal or per delivery basis.

Schmidt and Daigle were operating their own vehicles when they were involved in separate accidents, while delivering pizza for RPM. There seems to be little dispute as to the negligence and liability of the pizza deliverers. As part of each employee's employment agreement with RPM, he was required to carry automobile liability insurance with at least the minimum statutory limits. At the time of the accident each employee maintained such a policy with Automotive Casualty Insurance Company ("Automotive Casualty").

Automotive Casualty denied coverage in both accidents arguing that commercial or business use of vehicles is not covered under the policies. The policies issued herein by Automotive Casualty are standardized personal liability policies. They provide coverage for personal liability of an insured unless otherwise prevented by law or contractual exclusion. The exclusions relative *1368 to business or commercial use in the policies at issue are:

"A. We do not provide liability coverage for any person covered under the policy ...
(5) For that person's liability arising out of the ownership or operation of a vehicle while it is being used to carry persons or property for a fee. This exclusion does not apply to a share-the-expense car pool.
(6) While employed or otherwise engaged in the business or occupation of: a) selling, b) repairing, c) servicing, d) storing, or e) parking, vehicles designed for use on many public highways. This includes road testing and delivery. This exclusion does not apply to the ownership, maintenance or use of your covered auto by: a) you, b) any family member, or c) any partner, agent or employee of you or any family member.
(7) Maintaining or using any vehicle while that person is employed or otherwise engaged in any business or occupation not described in Exclusion 6. This exclusion does not apply to the maintenance or use of: a) private passenger auto, b) pickup, panel truck or van that you own, or c) trailer used with a vehicle described in a) or b) above."

As a result of denying coverage, RPM and its at-risk excess carrier, National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh ("National Union"), paid the sum of $14,204.49 for the physical and property damage sustained as a result of the accident involving Schmidt, and the sum of $9,413.00 for the physical and property damage sustained as a result of the accident involving Daigle. RPM and National Union now seek to recover those sums under the personal liability policies issued by Automotive Casualty to Schmidt and Daigle.

The lower courts concluded, without articulating reasons, that the policy provision excluding coverage for use in carrying persons or property for a fee would preclude coverage in the instances presented here, if it were not contrary to public policy. We disagree with this basic conclusion that the policy exclusion clause eliminates coverage for the accidents involved.

Neither the policy, nor the exclusion, prescribes the exact meaning of the term "fee" in the policy exclusion clause. Standing alone, the word "fee" is capable of being understood in two or more possible senses. For example, Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (1988) defines the term "fee" as "a fixed charge ... a charge for a professional service." Black's Law Dictionary defines "fee" as

"A recompense for an official or professional service or a charge or emolument or compensation for a particular act or service. A fixed charge or perquisite charged as recompense for labor; reward, compensation, or wage given to a person for performance of services or something done or to be done."

Thus the meaning of "fee" may be construed narrowly to encompass only specific contracts of carriage such as when a person makes a definite payment to another to carry a specific piece of property, such as hauling trash or moving furniture, or when a passenger pays a taxi fare to carry him from one point to another. On the other hand, the meaning sometimes might contemplate that a "fee" could be compensation for labor.

Interpretation of the policy provisions in light of each other so that each is given the meaning suggested by the insurance contract as a whole reveals that the term "fee" in exclusion A(5) refers to a fixed charge rather than to wages or compensation generally. La.C.C. art. 2050; Central Louisiana Electric Company, Inc. v. Westinghouse Electric Corp., 579 So.2d 981, 985 (La.1991). The exception to exclusion A(7) insures that coverage is extended to vehicles owned by the insured, regardless of their use in commercial or business situations. See generally W. McKenzie & H. Johnson, Insurance Law and Practice, 15 La. Civil Law Treatise § 81, at 206-208 (1986 & Supp.1991). Under this provision a travelling salesperson, a floating employee, or any other employee required to use his own vehicle in the course of his employ would be covered under exclusion A(7) of *1369 the policy. Therefore, to interpret "fee" in exclusion A(5) so broadly as to include any compensation paid to the owner of the vehicle by his employer would impermissibly destroy coverage for all such uses of the vehicle in direct conflict with the saving provision of exclusion A(7). See La.C.C. art. 2046.

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Bluebook (online)
601 So. 2d 1366, 57 A.L.R. 5th 841, 1992 La. LEXIS 2410, 1992 WL 153913, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rpm-pizza-inc-v-automotive-cas-ins-co-la-1992.