Smith v. Hughes Aircraft Co.

10 F.3d 1448, 1993 WL 485275
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedNovember 26, 1993
DocketNos. 91-16758, 91-16876, 91-16877, 92-15815, 92-16901 and 92-16957
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 10 F.3d 1448 (Smith v. Hughes Aircraft Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. Hughes Aircraft Co., 10 F.3d 1448, 1993 WL 485275 (9th Cir. 1993).

Opinion

WIGGINS, Circuit Judge:

OVERVIEW

In 1985, approximately 2,400 residents of the City of Tucson (“the Valenzuela claims”) sued Hughes Aircraft Company (“Hughes”) for injuries arising out of contamination of their drinking water due to Hughes’ practice of discharging trichloroethylene (“TCE”) into unlined ponds. In 1991, Hughes settled the Valenzuela claims with a payment of almost $85 million. Ronald John Smith and other Lloyd’s underwriters (“Lloyd’s”), Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company (“Hart[1451]*1451ford”), and Insurance Company of North America (“INA”) (collectively referred to as “Insurers”) brought declaratory judgment actions beginning in 1988 to determine them respective liability for the Valenzuela claims.

On September 6, 1991, the district court granted summary judgment for the Insurers with respect to policies issued between 1971 and 1985, 783 F.Supp. 1222. On March 19, 1992, the district court declined to review a $55,777.83 award for Hartford’s deposition costs that was issued by the district court clerk. Finally, on September 16, 1992, the district court granted summary judgment for INA and Lloyd’s with respect to policies issued between 1956 and 1971. Hughes timely appealed each decision. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

I. Standard of Review

We review de novo the district court’s grants of summary judgment. See FDIC v. O’Melveny & Meyers, 969 F.2d 744, 747 (9th Cir.1992), cert. filed, 62 U.S.L.W. 3275 (Sept. 27, 1993); Musick v. Burke, 913 F.2d 1390, 1394 (9th Cir.1990). Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Hughes, we must determine “whether there are any genuine issues of material fact for trial, and whether the district court correctly applied the relevant substantive law.” See O’Melveny & Meyers, 969 F.2d at 747. We also review de novo the district court’s interpretation of state law. Salve Regina College v. Russell, 499 U.S. 225, 231, 111 S.Ct. 1217, 1221, 113 L.Ed.2d 190 (1991); Brooks v. Hilton Casinos, Inc., 959 F.2d 757, 759 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 113 S.Ct. 300, 121 L.Ed.2d 224 (1992).

II. Merits

A. The September 6, 1991, Order Granting Summary Judgment for Insurers. (Nos. 91-16758, 91-16876, & 91-16877)

1. The AVN I6A Pollution Exclusion.

The district court concluded that the language of AVN 46A unambiguously excluded pollution risks not only in the aviation policies, but also in the excess CGL policies.1 Hughes argues that the drafting history of AVN 46A and the testimony of key Lloyd’s witnesses demonstrate that Lloyd’s never intended the exclusion to apply to anything but aviation coverage. The district court refused to consider this evidence because Hughes “failed to tie it to the parties’ intent.” We agree with Hughes. Hughes presented evidence from Hughes’ former insurance manager that his understanding of AVN 46A was based in part on AVN 46A’s drafting history. Because it is unclear from the language of the exclusion whether AVN 46A applied to the CGL policy, this evidence is admissible to indicate the real agreement of the parties. See Darner Motor Sales v. Universal Underwriters Ins. Co., 140 Ariz. 383, 393, 682 P.2d 388, 398 (1984); Pacific Gas & Elec. Co. v. G.W. Thomas Drayage & Rigging Co., 69 Cal.2d 33, 69 Cal.Rptr. 561, 564, 442 P.2d 641, 644 (1968) (allowing extrinsic evidence to determine the parties’ intent).2

Hughes also presented evidence that its agents understood AVN 46A to apply only to aviation risks. Moreover, the plain language of AVN 46A, when read in its entirety, contains ambiguities that preclude summary judgment. For example, the AVN abbreviation denotes that the exclusion came from the aviation form book; the first AVN 46A exclusion, for noise, vibration, and sonic booms, [1452]*1452appears to apply only to airplanes; and all four AVN 46A exclusions are subject to an exception for “a crash, explosion or collision or a recorded in-flight emergency causing abnormal aircraft operation.” Thus, because Hughes’ interpretation of the evidence regarding its understanding of AVN 46A supports the conclusion that the exclusion did not apply to non-aviation risks, we reverse the grant of summary judgment.

2. The “Sudden and Accidental” Exception to the Pollution Exclusion.

The district court concluded, as a matter of law, that the so-called pollution exclusion contained in the Insurers’ 1974-1985 policies precluded coverage. The pollution exclusion contains an exception for “sudden and accidental” discharges.3 The district court concluded that this exception did not apply because (1) under both Arizona and California law, the definition of “sudden” incorporates a notion of temporal brevity and does not merely mean unexpected; and (2) under the Valenzuela facts, the claimants’ injuries were the result of pollution that was not “sudden.” We agree.

a. “Sudden” Connotes Temporal Brevity.

Under Arizona law, the district court correctly concluded that the phrase “sudden and accidental” is ambiguous because different jurisdictions have interpreted the provision differently. See Federal Ins. Co. v. P.A.T. Homes, Inc., 113 Ariz. 136, 138-39, 547 P.2d 1050, 1052-53 (1976), disapproved on other grounds, State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Wilson, 162 Ariz. 251, 258, 782 P.2d 727, 734 (1989); see also Intel Corp. v. Hartford Acc. & Indem. Co., 952 F.2d 1551, 1561 (9th Cir.1991) (recognizing disparate interpretations of the “sudden and accidental” exception). This ambiguity is properly analyzed under State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Wilson, 162 Ariz. 251, 257-58, 782 P.2d 727, 733-34 (1989). The district court properly (1) looked to the language of the exclusion and concluded that “sudden” “unmistakably connotes a temporal quality” (otherwise, it would simply be a synonym for “accidental”); (2) concluded that requiring temporal brevity furthered public policy by excluding deliberate indifference on the part of a polluting insured; and (3) analyzed the purpose of the transaction and, noting that Hughes is not an unsophisticated consumer, concluded that “an interpretation of ‘sudden’ that fails to recognize its temporal quality” would frustrate the parties’ intent by forcing the Insurers to buy into the risk of insuring a pollution prone operation. See id.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ruff v. County of Kings
700 F. Supp. 2d 1225 (E.D. California, 2010)
United States v. Stephanie Ann Powell
222 F.3d 913 (Eleventh Circuit, 2000)
South MacOmb Disposal Authority v. American Insurance
572 N.W.2d 686 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1998)
Sunbeam Corp. v. Liberty Mutual Insurance
37 Pa. D. & C.4th 44 (Alleghany County Court of Common Pleas, 1997)
Southern Solvents, Inc. v. Canal Insurance
894 F. Supp. 430 (M.D. Florida, 1995)
Edo Corp. v. Newark Insurance
878 F. Supp. 366 (D. Connecticut, 1995)
Crescent Oil Co. v. Federated Mutual Insurance
888 P.2d 869 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1995)
Staefa Control-System Inc. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins.
847 F. Supp. 1460 (N.D. California, 1994)
AY McDonald Industries v. INA
842 F. Supp. 1166 (N.D. Iowa, 1993)
Nestlé Foods Corp. v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co.
842 F. Supp. 125 (D. New Jersey, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
10 F.3d 1448, 1993 WL 485275, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-hughes-aircraft-co-ca9-1993.