Sentry Select Insurance Co. v. Lopez

241 F. Supp. 3d 777, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149745, 2017 WL 1077065
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Texas
DecidedMarch 14, 2017
DocketEP-14-CV-284-KC
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 241 F. Supp. 3d 777 (Sentry Select Insurance Co. v. Lopez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sentry Select Insurance Co. v. Lopez, 241 F. Supp. 3d 777, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149745, 2017 WL 1077065 (W.D. Tex. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER

KATHLEEN CARDONE, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

On this day, the Court considered Plaintiff Sentry Select Insurance Company’s Motion for Summary Judgment on the Duty to Indemnify (“Motion”), ECF No. 78, in the above-captioned case. For the reasons set forth below, the Motion is GRANTED.

I. BACKGROUND

The basic factual contours of this case, including the facts surrounding the relevant state-court litigation, are outlined in this Court’s Order granting summary judgment to Sentry Select on the issue of its duty to defend. See Order of March 18, 2016, ECF No. 65. Nonetheless, the Court reiterates that this case arises out of a tractor-trailer accident that resulted in the deaths of Roger Franceware and Lorenzo Munoz. See id. at 1-2. Franceware and Munoz were the occupants of the truck at the time of the fatal accident, and they were hauling a trailer leased by Goal Transports, Inc. (“Goal”) from Dykes and Dykes Trailer, Inc. at that time. See id. Prior to the accident, Trans Front, Inc. (“Trans Front”), a transportation company, had frequently been hauling Goal trailers back and forth between a Goal facility in El Paso, Texas and a Trans Front facility in Juarez, Mexico via deals brokered by an entity called Transport Enlace. App. to Def.’s Mot., ECF No. 79-1, Sotelo Dep. at 28:7-24:16.

Of particular relevance here is the omnibus provision of the Sentry Select commercial auto insurance policy issued to Goal which contains language indicating that “anyone ... while using with ... permission a covered ‘auto’ you own, hire, or borrow” is an “insured.” App. to Pl.’s Mot. Summ. J. on Duty to Defend Issue at 26, ECF No. 26-1. (emphasis added). The policy also indicates that: “‘Auto’ means: A land motor vehicle, ‘trailer’ or semitrailer designed for travel on public roads.” Id. at 35. Finally, the policy explains that: “[Sentry] will pay all sums an ‘insured’ legally must pay as damages because of ‘bodily injury1 or ‘property damage’ to which this insurance applies, caused by an ‘accident’ and resulting from the ownership, maintenance or use of a covered ‘auto.’ ” Id. at 25.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard

A court must enter summary judgment “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); accord Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Weaver v. CCA Indus., Inc., 529 F.3d 335, 339 (5th Cir. 2008). “A fact is ‘material’ if its resolution in favor of one party might affect the outcome of the lawsuit under governing law.” Sossamon v. Lone Star State of Tex., 560 F.3d 316, 326 (5th Cir. 2009) (quoting Hamilton v. Segue Software, Inc., 232 F.3d 473, 477 (5th Cir. 2000) (per curiam)). A dispute about a material fact is genuine only “if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Ellison v. Software Spectrum, Inc., 85 F.3d 187, 189 (5th Cir. 1996).

“[The] party seeking summary judgment always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those por[780]*780tions of [the record] which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548; Wallace v. Tex. Tech. Univ., 80 F.3d 1042, 1046-47 (5th Cir. 1996). To show the existence of a genuine dispute, the nonmoving party must support its position with citations to “particular parts of materials in the record, including depositions, documents, electronically stored information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations ... admissions, interrogatory answers, or other materials [,] ” or show “that the materials cited by the movant do not establish the absence ... of a genuine dispute, or that [the moving party] cannot produce admissible evidence to support the fact.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c).

A court resolves factual controversies in favor of the nonmoving party, but establishing a factual controversy requires more than “conclusory allegations,” “unsubstantiated assertions,” or “a ‘scintilla’ of evidence.” Little v. Liquid Air Corp., 37 F.3d 1069, 1075 (5th Cir. 1994) (en banc). Further, when reviewing the evidence, a court must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party and may .not make credibility determinations or weigh evidence. Man Roland, Inc. v. Kreitz Motor Express, Inc., 438 F.3d 476, 478-79 (5th Cir. 2006) (citing Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 150, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000)). Thus, the ultimate inquiry in a summary judgment motion is “whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to Require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party'must prevail as a matter of law.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

B. Analysis

' On March 31, 2015, Plaintiff filed its Second Amended Complaint in this matter, seeking a declaratory judgment that it has no liability to Defendants in connection with a judgment obtained by Defendants in Cause No. 2010-4169 filed in the 168 Judicial District Court of El Paso County, Texas. See Second Am. Compl. for Declaratory J., ECF No. 45; J. Correcting J. Signed June 3, 2014, First Am. Compl. for Declaratory J. Ex. B, ECF No. 12-2. On March 18, 2016, this Court granted summary juclgment to Plaintiff on the duty to defend issue. See Order of March 18, 2016, ECF No. 65. Now, Plaintiff moves this Court for summary judgment on whether it has a duty to indemnify the Lopez or Munoz Defendants. See PL’s Mot.

1. Burden of establishing insurer’s duty to indemnify

Under Texas law, which governs this diversity case,1 the duty to defend and the duty to indemnify “enjoy a degree of independence from each other.” D.R. Horton-Tex., Ltd. v. Market Int’l Ins. Co., 300 S.W.3d 740, 743-44 (Tex. 2009); see King v. Dallas Fire Ins. Co., 85 S.W.3d 185

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241 F. Supp. 3d 777, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149745, 2017 WL 1077065, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sentry-select-insurance-co-v-lopez-txwd-2017.