Travelers Prop. Cas. Co. of Am. v. Brookwood, LLC

283 F. Supp. 3d 1153
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedSeptember 6, 2017
Docket2:15–cv–01016–KOB
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 283 F. Supp. 3d 1153 (Travelers Prop. Cas. Co. of Am. v. Brookwood, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Travelers Prop. Cas. Co. of Am. v. Brookwood, LLC, 283 F. Supp. 3d 1153 (N.D. Ala. 2017).

Opinion

KARON OWEN BOWDRE, CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This case concerns whether a commercial insurance policy covers water damage from a leaking roof. Brookwood, LLC owns a building that suffered water damage from a leak. The leak damaged the building and a tenant's property. Brookwood made claims under its insurance policy with Travelers Property Casualty Company of America, and Travelers denied those claims. Travelers now requests a declaratory judgment that its policy does not provide coverage for the damages incurred by Brookwood and its tenant.

Travelers makes three arguments in support of its request for a declaratory judgment. First, it asserts that the damages are not covered because the policy excludes coverage for all of the possible causes of the leak. It also asserts that its policy does not provide coverage for Brookwood's economic losses, including repairs to the building and the loss of rental income from its tenant. And finally, Travelers asserts that its policy does not provide coverage for damages to personal property owned by Brookwood's tenant because the lease between Brookwood and its tenant allocates to the tenant the risk of loss to the tenant's property, and thus it is not damage Brookwood is legally obligated to pay. Brookwood, in contrast, maintains that the possible causes of the leak are not excluded and that the "insured contract" exception to the contractual liability exclusion in the liability policy restores coverage for the damage to the tenant's property.

Brookwood counterclaims, alleging bad faith on Travelers's part. Travelers moved for summary judgment as to all claims; that motion has been fully briefed. (Docs. 41, 45, 50). For the reasons stated in this Memorandum Opinion, the court WILL

*1156GRANT the Motion for Summary Judgment.

I. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Summary judgment allows a trial court to decide cases when no genuine issues of material fact are present and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See FED. R. CIV. P. 56(a). When a district court reviews a motion for summary judgment, it must determine two things: (1) whether any genuine issues of material fact exist; and if none, (2) whether the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id.

In reviewing the evidence submitted, the court must view all evidence and factual inferences drawn from it in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. See Augusta Iron & Steel Works, Inc. v. Emp'rs Ins. of Wausau , 835 F.2d 855, 856 (11th Cir. 1988) (citation omitted). However, the non-moving party "need not be given the benefit of every inference but only of every reasonable inference." Graham v. State Farm Mut. Ins. Co. , 193 F.3d 1274, 1282 (11th Cir. 1999) (citation omitted).

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Defendant Brookwood owns the Raymond James building, located at 2900 U.S. Highway 280 in Birmingham, Alabama. Brookwood is a named insured in a commercial insurance policy issued by Travelers that provided coverage for the Raymond James building from April 30, 2014 through April 30, 2015. The policy contains two sections relevant here: the Deluxe Property ("Property") Policy and the Commercial General Liability ("CGL") Policy.1

The parties do not dispute that the roof of the Raymond James building leaked, causing damage to the building and to a tenant's property, on or about November 16, 2014, when the Birmingham area received approximately 2.43 inches of rain and experienced winds of up to 24 miles per hour. Specifically, rain entered the roof through openings in the roof's EPDM membrane.2 At issue is what caused the openings in the roof's EPDM membrane and whether the Property and/or CGL Policies provide coverage for the damage caused by the rain leaking through those openings.

On September 19, 2014, prior to the leak, Mr. Tyler Hixson of Hixson Consultants inspected the Raymond James building's 18-year-old roof and provided a report to Brookwood with his findings and recommendations. The report noted that the EPDM roofing membrane had disbonded in several places, such that "[s]ignificant water entry can occur"; that the EPDM membrane was denatured, patched, and, in multiple locations, open where it met the base flashing; that bridging membrane had been employed; that the ballast had been displaced in some locations, exposing the membrane to accelerated UV deterioration; and that certain areas were unsealed or incompletely sealed. The Hixson report recommended reseaming open and disbonded seams; replacing the denatured membrane and membrane patches; monitoring the bridging membrane; redistributing displaced *1157ballast; installing pitch pocket filler; and resealing the membrane and inadequately sealed areas. The parties dispute whether Mr. Hixson's recommendations constituted needed repairs or items that would, if performed, maximize the longevity of the roof, and his report does not clarify the nature of his recommendations.

Brookwood hired Leak Solutions to perform the recommended work. Leak Solutions employees started work on the roof on November 4, 2014 and worked through November 7, 2014; they did not return during the week of November 10-14, 2014, or apparently, during the weekend of November 14-16. On November 4, 2014, Brookwood's building engineer, Marlon McElroy, observed Leak Solutions employees using metal shovels to scrape ballast on the roof in the area where the leak at issue in this case later occurred. Upon their departure on November 7, Leak Solutions employees left the EPDM membrane unrepaired and exposed in multiple areas.

Birmingham received .11 inches of rain on November 6, 2014, which did not damage the Raymond James building. (Doc. 43-20 at ECF 129). Then, on or about November 16, Birmingham received nearly two-and-a-half inches of rain. On November 17, 2014, a representative of McWane, Inc., one of Brookwood's tenants, informed Mr. McElroy that rain had leaked into its leased space in the Raymond James building over the weekend of November 14. Brookwood reported the loss to Travelers on November 17 and requested coverage under the Property Policy.

Travelers claim professional Cory Blankenship; Cindy Ritchie, Brookwood's building manager; Mr. McElroy; and a Hixson representative inspected the building on November 24, 2014. During that inspection, the Hixson representative suggested that thermal shock caused the EPDM membrane to contract and detach from the wall. Travelers subsequently retained Charles Whitley, an engineer, to inspect the loss and provide an opinion as to its cause.

Mr. Whitley inspected the building on December 8, 2014 along with Mr. McElroy, who informed Mr. Whitley both that Leak Solutions had worked on the roof beginning on November 4, 2014 and that he had seen the Leak Solutions employees using their shovels to scrape ballast. Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
283 F. Supp. 3d 1153, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/travelers-prop-cas-co-of-am-v-brookwood-llc-alnd-2017.