Travelers Casualty & Surety Co. v. Gerling Global Reinsurance Corp. of America

419 F.3d 181, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 17526, 2005 WL 1983701
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedAugust 18, 2005
DocketDocket No. 03-9220-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 419 F.3d 181 (Travelers Casualty & Surety Co. v. Gerling Global Reinsurance Corp. of America) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Travelers Casualty & Surety Co. v. Gerling Global Reinsurance Corp. of America, 419 F.3d 181, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 17526, 2005 WL 1983701 (2d Cir. 2005).

Opinion

JOHN M. WALKER, JR., Chief Judge.

Appellant Travelers Casualty & Surety Company (“Travelers”) appeals from an order of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Janet Bond Arterton, Judge), granting summary judgment to appellee Gerling Global Reinsurance Corporation (“Gerling”) upon Travelers’ claim against Gerling for a reinsurance payment.1 Travelers Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Gerling Global Reinsurance Corp., 285 F.Supp.2d 200 (D.Conn.2003) (“Travelers ”). After Travelers settled its insurance dispute with its underlying insured, Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation (“OCF”), it allocated the settlement amount among the OCF policies in a way that implicated its own reinsurance policies with Gerling, a reinsurer.2 The district court concluded that because Travelers’ settlement with OCF suggested that Travelers had accepted — at the time of settlement — a different allocation position from the position it asserted for reinsur-anee purposes, Gerling was not required to honor that allocation under the “follow-the-fortunes” doctrine. Id. at 211-12. On appeal, Travelers argues that summary judgment in favor of Gerling contravened our recent holding in North River Insurance Co. v. ACE American Reinsurance Co., 361 F.3d 134, 139 (2d Cir.2004) (“North River II ”), which upheld the district court’s grant of summary judgment to North River, the cedent, in North River Insurance Co. v. ACE American Reinsurance Co., No. 00 Civ. 7993, 2002 WL 506682 (S.D.N.Y. Mar.29, 2002) (“North River I ”). In addition, even though Travelers did not cross-move for summary judgment below, it now asks us not only to vacate the district court’s order granting Gerling summary judgment, but also — in line with North River I and II — to grant summary judgment in its favor. We agree with the position advanced by Travelers, reverse the district court, and remand for entry of an order granting summary judgment to Travelers.

BACKGROUND

I. The OCF-Travelers and Travelers-Gerling Policies

Between 1953 and 1972, OCF, the world’s second-largest manufacturer of as[184]*184bestos-containing products, manufactured and distributed Kaylo, an insulation product containing asbestos. OCF also installed Kaylo at numerous building sites around the country.

From 1952 through 1979, Travelers insured OCF for bodily injury and property damage through a series of annual primary policies. With respect to claims for bodily injury, the primary policies distinguished between “products” and “non-products” claims. Products coverage protected OCF from claims for asbestos-related injuries that occurred either after asbestos products were placed into the stream of commerce or after an asbestos-related operation was completed. Non-products coverage protected OCF from claims for asbestos-related injuries resulting from asbestos exposure on OCF’s premises or during its business operations, for example, injuries occurring during the installation or removal of asbestos products. Each primary policy had a $1 million “per occurrence” limit of liability, regardless of whether the claims arising from that occurrence fell within the products or non-products category. Thus, for any single occurrence, Travelers was not required to pay more than $1 million under any single primary policy.

Each primary policy also had a $1 million “aggregate” limit of liability — but for products coverage only. Thus, if claims arising from multiple occurrences triggered products coverage, the most that Travelers had to pay under any single policy was $1 million. Once the aggregate limit was reached, the policy was exhausted, regardless of any additional occurrences. However, if claims arising from multiple occurrences triggered non-products coverage, then Travelers was exposed to unlimited liability; each occurrence was subject to a $1 million limit on liability, but there was no cap on total liability. Regardless of how much Travelers had paid for previous non-products occurrences under a single policy, each additional non-products occurrence under that policy subjected Travelers to liability anew.

During the same period, Travelers also issued to OCF a number of excess policies that provided the layer of coverage directly above the primary policies. Each excess policy included a $25 million “per occurrence” limit on liability. The combined “per occurrence” limit of all of the OCF-Travelers’ policies — both primary and excess — was $273.5 million.

Although the parties disagree as to whether or not Travelers obtained reinsurance on the primary OCF policies, it is undisputed that Travelers obtained reinsurance on its excess policies from a number of reinsurers. Relevant to this litigation are five facultative reinsurance certificates3 that Travelers purchased from Gerling covering specified portions of the excess policies Travelers had issued to OCF for the period 1975 to 1977. As is customary, those certificates contained provisions under which Gerling agreed to be bound by any loss settlements entered into by Travelers with the underlying insured, so long as they fell within the terms and conditions of the original policy and of the certificate.

II. The OCF-Travelers Dispute

Beginning in the 1970s, asbestos manufacturers faced a crush of lawsuits for asbestos-related injuries, and OCF was no exception. Until the early 1990s, OCF [185]*185categorized its asbestos-related claims as falling within the products category, and as arising from a single occurrence, when submitting claims to Travelers. But by the early 1990s, Travelers had paid OCF more than $400 million, which included indemnification for one set of occurrence limits as well as defense costs, and OCF’s products coverage had been exhausted. OCF then began to submit its asbestos claims as non-products claims. Travelers, however, disputed any additional coverage for these claims. In March 1993, OCF and Travelers entered into arbitration. OCF argued that (1) the claims arising from OCF’s contracting operations fell under non-products coverage, and (2) each of the claims, or at least each set of claims arising from a particular job site, was a separate occurrence. Travelers responded that (1) OCF had not adequately documented its assertion that these were non-products claims, and (2) all of OCF’s claims, whether products or non-products, arose from a single occurrence. Were Travelers correct as to either assertion, it would not owe OCF any additional amount, since (1) under the terms of the policies, OCF had already reached the aggregate limit on liability for products claims, and (2) Travelers had already paid one set of occurrence limits.

Prior to any final, arbitral determination, OCF and Travelers settled. Travelers agreed to pay roughly $273.5 million, which was approximately one additional occurrence limit. Travelers, 285 F.Supp.2d at 205. OCF and Travelers “explicitly disclaimed any particular theory of coverage,” and they never reached agreement as to whether the claims arose from a single occurrence or multiple occurrences. Id.

III. The Travelers-Gerling Dispute

Although the settlement did not resolve the occurrence issue, Travelers had to choose an occurrence position in order to allocate the settlement among its primary and excess OCF policies.

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419 F.3d 181, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 17526, 2005 WL 1983701, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/travelers-casualty-surety-co-v-gerling-global-reinsurance-corp-of-ca2-2005.