United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Continental Casualty Co.

120 S.W.3d 556, 353 Ark. 834, 2003 Ark. LEXIS 397
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJune 26, 2003
Docket03-39
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 120 S.W.3d 556 (United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Continental Casualty Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas 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. Continental Casualty Co., 120 S.W.3d 556, 353 Ark. 834, 2003 Ark. LEXIS 397 (Ark. 2003).

Opinion

Ray Thornton, Justice.

Appellant, Crane Construction [Crane], a general contractor, was hired by WalMart to construct retail stores in several states. Appellant, United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company [USF&G], issued several performance and payment bonds to Crane in connection with the projects. 1

In September of 1992 and July of 1993, Crane entered into contracts with appellant, Ray & Sons Masonry [Ray], a subcontractor, to perform masonry work on several of the Wal-Mart stores. The contracts entered into by Crane and Ray contained an indemnification clause in which Ray agreed to:

protect, indemnify and hold Crane free and harmless from and against any and all claims, demands and causes of action of every kind and character (including the amounts of judgments, penalties, interest, court costs and legal fees incurred by Crane in defense of same arising in favor of governmental agencies or third parties (including employees of either party)) on account of taxes, claims, fines, debts, personal injuries, death or damages to property, and without limitation by enumeration all other claims or demands of every character occurring or in anywise incident to, in connection with or rising out of the work to be performed by subcontractor.

Appellee, Continental Casualty Company, [Continental] provided Ray insurance for the project pursuant to a general liability policy. In September of 1993, Crane sued Wal-Mart in federal court. In its complaint, Crane alleged breach of contract, fraud, and racketeering. In November of 1993, Wal-Mart counterclaimed, asserting breach of contract and negligence resulting from allegedly faulty and defective construction on various Wal-Mart projects completed by Crane. Ray had performed work on two of the allegedly faulty and defective Wal-Mart projects. In 1993, Wal-Mart also filed a suit against USF&G in federal court, alleging that it had breached its performance bond obligation for the projects.

In August of 1996, USF&G, Crane, and Wal-Mart entered into a settlement agreement that ended the federal litigation. In the settlement, USF&G made payments to Wal-Mart in exchange for the dismissal of Wal-Mart’s claims against USF&G and Crane.

Thereafter, Crane and USF&G filed a complaint in Pulaski County Circuit Court against Ray and several of the other subcontractors who worked on the Wal-Mart projects, alleging breach of the indemnity agreement. Specifically, Crane and USF&G alleged that “the subcontractors . . . breached their subcontract agreements with Crane ... in not indemnifying and holding Crane harmless from the various costs, expenses, and attorneys’ fees incurred in the defense of the Wal-Mart claims in the [federal suit], and not providing a defense to Crane in regard to the alleged defective, nonconforming work, and in denying their obligation to indemnify and hold Crane harmless for all claims, demands, and causes of action relating to the subcontractors’ work on the projects and in failing to reimburse Crane and plaintiffs for costs incurred in settlement of Wal-Mart’s claims relating to the subcontractors’ defective and nonconforming work on the projects.” The complaint also alleged causes of action for breach of contract and negligence.

In 2001, a trial was held on the complaint. The case was submitted to the jury with respect to Ray solely on the issue of whether there was a breach of contractual indemnity. The jury found that Ray was liable to USF&G and Crane for fading to indemnify Crane and USF&G against Wal-Mart’s claims. The jury awarded USF&G and Crane $1.5 million in damages.

In August of 2001, Continental Casualty Company, who had defended Ray under a reservation of rights, filed a declaratory judgment action in the Pulaski County Circuit Court seeking to have the circuit court determine whether its policy issued to Ray provided coverage for payment of the judgment awarded in favor of Crane and USF&G. 2

In March of 2002, Continental filed a motion seeking summary judgment. In its motion, Continental argued that “the general liability policy issued by Continental Casualty Company to Ray and Sons Masonry Contractors, Inc., and in effect at the time of the events leading to the judgment in USF&G v. Ray and Sons Masonry, supra, does not provide coverage for the judgment.”

In April of 2002, USF&G and Crane filed a motion seeking partial summary judgment. In their motion, USF&G and Crane argued that they were entitled to summary judgment because Ray’s defective work caused Wal-Mart to suffer property damage. They further argued that this type of property damage was covered in Continental’s policy.

In September of 2002, a hearing was held on the parties’ motions. After hearing arguments from the parties, the trial court granted Continental’s motion for summary judgment. It is from this order that appellants appeal. We reverse the trial court’s order and remand this matter to the circuit court for resolution of unresolved factual issues.

Summary judgment is to be granted by a trial court only when it is clear that there are no genuine issues of material fact to be litigated, and the party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Spears v. City of Fordyce, 351 Ark. 305, 92 S.W.3d 38 (2002). Once the moving party has established a prima facie entitlement to summary judgment, the opposing party must meet proof with proof and demonstrate the existence of a material issue of fact. Id. On appellate review, we determine if summary judgment was appropriate based on whether the evidentiary items presented by the moving party in support of the motion leave a material fact unanswered. Id. We view the evidence in a light most favorable to the party against whom the motion was filed, resolving all doubts and inferences against the moving party. Id.

In their first point on appeal, appellants argue that the trial court erred in granting appellee’s motion for summary judgment. 3 In granting appellee’s motion, the trial court found “there was no duty on the part of Continental Casualty Company under its comprehensive general liability insurance policies to indemnify Ray and Sons Masonry Contractors and others for a judgment entered on the 26th day of October 2001, in the matter of United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company and Crane Constriction Company v. Ray and Sons Masonry Contractors.” Appellants contend that the trial court’s finding was erroneous because “there is coverage under the policy for at least a portion of Crane’s and USF & G’s judgment against Ray & Sons in the underlying action.” Appellee argues that the trial court properly granted its motion for summary judgment because the judgment entered against Ray in the underlying suit was for breach of an indemnity agreement, a matter that is not covered by the policy.

To determine whether summary judgment was properly entered, we must ascertain whether the policy issued to Ray by Continental provided coverage for the judgment entered against Ray in the underlying suit.

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Bluebook (online)
120 S.W.3d 556, 353 Ark. 834, 2003 Ark. LEXIS 397, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-fidelity-guaranty-co-v-continental-casualty-co-ark-2003.