United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Barron Industries, Inc.

809 F. Supp. 355, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20123, 1992 WL 394442
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 18, 1992
Docket3: CV 91-1363
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 809 F. Supp. 355 (United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Barron Industries, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Barron Industries, Inc., 809 F. Supp. 355, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20123, 1992 WL 394442 (M.D. Pa. 1992).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

CONABOY, District Judge.

Plaintiff, United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company (hereinafter USF & G) brings this diversity based declaratory judgment action against its insureds, Barron Industries, Inc., New York Blower Company, and Mechanovent Corporation (hereinafter collectively referred to as Barron) to determine whether an insurance policy issued by USF & G to Barron affords coverage for certain property damage claims asserted against Barron. This coverage dispute arises directly out of an underlying action in the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas wherein Continental Cogeneration Corporation (hereinafter CCC), Continental Energy Associates (hereinafter CEA) and Dravo Corporation are adverse parties to Barron.

Currently, there are two motions pending before the Court 1 : (1) Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment; and (2) Barron’s motion for a Protective Order and to strike. (Doc. Nos. 16 and 32, respectively). The Court will review and analyze both motions in the present Memorandum and Order.

BACKGROUND

In order to fully understand the present action, it is necessary first to describe the events leading up to and involved in the pending state court litigation.

On March 19, 1987, CEA and Dravo entered into a “Turnkey Construction Contract 2 ” whereby Dravo agreed to design and construct by April 10, 1989, a Gasification Facility for CEA’s cogeneration plant in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. Thereafter, on December 27, 1987, Dravo entered into a Purchase Order Agreement with Defendant insureds (Barron, New York Blower Co., and Mechanovent Corp.). In accordance with the terms of the Purchase Order Barron was to:

Provide all necessary labor, material, supervision, inspection, equipment and supplies to fabricate, assemble, clean, prime and paint, test and load for shipment to the Humboldt Gasification Facility in Hazelton, Pennsylvania two (2) Process Gas Fans in strict compliance with Dravo Wellman Specification W4412-E-12341 General Revision dated October 14, 1987, General Mechanical Specification W4412 dated September 24, 1986, and the Technical Classifications and Exceptions.

(Doc. No. 30, Exh. E, p. 3).

Dravo then began construction of the Gasification Facility. By the Fall of 1989, however, problems allegedly related to the design and installation of the Barron Process fans began surfacing at the job site. In particular, the shaft/seal system caused an explosion on November 15, 1989, 3 which bent and damaged an I-beam support. (Doc. No. 30, Exh. D, p. 6). In addition, on December 10, 1989, a fire was detected in the seal duct cavity of one of the Barron Process fans resulting in damage to the *358 seal duct and the seal duct insulation and wiring, all of which were supplied and installed by Dravo. (Doc. No. 30, Exh. D, p. 16).

As a result of these problems, CEA served upon Dravo a Notice of Contract Events of Default. Dravo was then given a period of time to cure the alleged events of default, but was unable to do so. Accordingly, CEA, by letter dated February 16, 1990, terminated the contract and commenced suit against Dravo in the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas. (Doc. No. 30, Exh. E, p. 9). Dravo in turn joined Barron as a third-party Defendant.

Dravo’s third-party complaint reiterates many of the allegations contained in CEA’s complaint. In particular, Dravo cites the following problems related to the alleged deficiencies in the Barron Process Fans:

8. On or about December 10, 1989, a fire was detected in the seal duct cavity of one of the Barron Process fans installed at the coal gasification facility.
9. As a result of the fire, the seal duct and the seal duct insulation, both supplied and installed by Dravo, were damaged.
10. Further, upon inspection of the Process Gas Fans after the fire, cracks were detected in one of the Process Gas Fans supplied by Barron.

(Doc. No. 30, Exh. E, pp. 3-4).

As a result of the third-party suit against Barron, USF & G, as Baron's insurer, filed the present action in District Court seeking a declaration that it has no obligation to defend Barron in the underlying state court action.

I

DISCUSSION

A. Summary Judgment

On June 1, 1992, USF & G filed a motion for summary judgment contending that it is not obligated to defend Barron because “no coverage is conceivably possible for Dravo’s claims against Barron.” (Doc. Nos. 16 and 17, p. 18, respectively). In support of this contention USF & G posits that: (1) Barron cannot establish compensable “property damage” as defined in the policy; (2) Barron cannot establish an “occurrence” or “incident” within the meaning of its policies; (3) even if there is an “occurrence”, it happened after the policy period; (4) even assuming “property damage” caused by an occurrence within the policy period, certain policy exclusions preclude coverage; and (5) Barron’s notice was untimely thereby precluding coverage. (Doc. No. 17).

When reviewing motions for summary judgment, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c) requires that we render summary judgment “... forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” “[T]his standard provides that the mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-8, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (emphasis in original).

A fact is “material” if proof of its existence or nonexistence would effect the outcome of the lawsuit under the law applicable to the case. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2510; Levendos v. Stern Entertainment Inc., 860 F.2d 1227, 1233 (3d Cir.1988). An issue of material fact is “genuine” if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury might return a verdict for the non-moving party. 4 Anderson, 477 U.S. at 257, 106 S.Ct. at 2514; Hankins v. Temple University, 829 F.2d 437, 440 (3d Cir.1987); Equimark Commercial Fi *359 nance Co. v. C.I.T. Financial Services Corp., 812 F.2d 141, 144 (3d Cir.1987).

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Bluebook (online)
809 F. Supp. 355, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20123, 1992 WL 394442, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-fidelity-guaranty-co-v-barron-industries-inc-pamd-1992.