University of Cincinnati v. Arkwright Mutual Insurance Company

51 F.3d 1277, 1995 U.S. App. LEXIS 8706, 1995 WL 222392
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedApril 17, 1995
Docket94-3320
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 51 F.3d 1277 (University of Cincinnati v. Arkwright Mutual Insurance Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
University of Cincinnati v. Arkwright Mutual Insurance Company, 51 F.3d 1277, 1995 U.S. App. LEXIS 8706, 1995 WL 222392 (6th Cir. 1995).

Opinion

*1278 MILBURN, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff University of Cincinnati appeals the district court’s grant of defendant Arkwright Mutual Insurance Company’s motion for summary judgment in this diversity action in which plaintiff seeks a declaration that the insurance policy it obtained from defendant covered the damages sustained by its property during the removal of asbestos pri- or to the demolition of the property. On appeal, the issues are (1) whether the district court erred in granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment, thereby finding that the damage to plaintiffs property caused by the asbestos removal was not a “fortuitous” loss covered by plaintiffs all-risk insurance policy; (2) whether the district court erred by failing to grant plaintiffs motion for summary judgment and failing to find that the damages plaintiff sustained were insured losses resulting from physical damage rather than uninsured economic losses; (3) whether plaintiffs action is untimely in light of a provision in the insurance policy requiring all actions to be commenced within one year after the insured discovers the occurrence giving rise to the claim; and (4) whether coverage for plaintiffs asbestos-related losses is precluded by the insurance policy’s exclusions for contamination and inherent vice. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

I.

A.

In 1985, 1988, and 1991, plaintiff University of Cincinnati purchased from defendant Arkwright Mutual Insurance Company an “all-risk” property insurance policy to insure against “ALL RISKS OF PHYSICAL LOSS OR DAMAGE” to plaintiffs real and personal property, except those risks or losses explicitly excluded under the terms of the policy. J.A. 15,145. 1 Plaintiffs decision to seek all-risk insurance, rather than the standard “named peril” coverage it had previously utilized, was based on the desire to consolidate its coverage and benefit from the “broader coverage” against property damage offered by an all-risk policy. Prior to 1985 and plaintiffs decision to seek a single all-risk policy, plaintiffs property insurance portfolio had consisted of multiple layers of insurance provided by numerous insurers. This arrangement left gaps in plaintiffs coverage, although it was significantly less expensive than the single policy plaintiff obtained from defendant. Prior to 1985, defendant had written boiler and machinery policies for plaintiff.

One of the buddings covered by plaintiffs policy with defendant was a multi-story budding known as Sander Had, which was located at 45 West Charlton Street, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The building was constructed as a dormitory between 1969 and 1972 and served as a student residence facility untd 1982. After a fire demolished part of the sixth floor, the budding was closed and, except for occasional use, was primarily utilized as storage space. Plaintiff claims that structural and design problems unrelated to the presence of asbestos-containing materials (“ACMs”) dictated that the budding remain largely unused.

Plaintiff learned in 1983 that ACMs had been used in the construction of Sander Hall, a 29-story budding. (Defendant claims that the budding was 27 stories tad.) There is no evidence, though, that plaintiff had made plans to remove the ACMs or to demolish Sander Hall by 1985, when defendant first issued the ad-risk podcy to plaintiff. In July 1989, however, plaintiff completed a cost-benefit analysis that weighed the possibility of renovating Sander Had against the cost of demodtion and concluded by recommending demodtion. On Decémber 13, .1989, plaintiffs Board of Trustees voted to demodsh Sander Had because it was not suitable for any use without major renovation. The presence of the ACMs does not appear to have been a factor in the trustees’ decision. However, removal of the ACMs prior to demodtion was required both by Ohio law, Ohio Admin. Code § 3745-20-01 et seq., and by federal regulation, 40 C.F.R. §§ 61.145 and *1279 61.150, 2 and the trustees clearly acted with knowledge that the ACMs would have to be removed before demolition could take place.

In order to move forward with the planned demolition, plaintiff hired a private consulting firm to perform an environmental assessment of Sander Hall. In May 1990, the consulting firm recommended to plaintiff that all of the ACMs in Sander Hall be physically removed prior to demolition, except for a few ACMs located in the roof and floor of the building that posed little risk of releasing asbestos fibers into the air during the implosion process. This recommendation effectively warned plaintiff that destruction of the interior of Sander Hall was certain if plaintiff chose to proceed with the planned demolition of the building. Plaintiff stuck to its decision to demolish the budding, and the process of removing the ACMs from Sander Hall began in July 1990. In accordance with the consulting firm’s recommendation, workers tore out walls, ceilings, and interior and exterior panels of the budding. The asbestos removal was completed in June 1991, and the demolition was accomplished through implosion of the budding on June 23, 1991. The cost of the removal totaded approximately $2,204,-253.00.

Plaintiff, through its legal counsel, sent a notice of loss to defendant on March 27,1991, requesting payment for the cost of removing the ACMs from Sander Hall under the terms of its all-risk policy. A proof of claim was filed on or about June 27, 1991. Defendant denied coverage for the claimed expenses on September 12, 1991. There is no indication that plaintiff ever considered whether defendant’s ad-risk podcy covered costs incurred in connection with asbestos removal or that any representative of plaintiff ever discussed the subject with defendant prior to the assertion of plaintiffs asbestos-related claim. Moreover, the word “asbestos” does not appear in either the 1985 or the 1988 podcy.

B.

Plaintiff commenced this action on October 15, 1991. In its complaint, plaintiff requested a declaration that the cost of removing the ACMs was within the coverage of plaintiffs 1985 and 1988 podcies and a judgment for the amount of the expenses. Plaintiff claimed that “the presence of asbestos-containing materials in Sander Had” was the physical loss or damage it had sustained; it did not refer to the damage to the budding caused by the removal process. 3 J.A. 10. Both parties moved for summary judgment on November 30, 1992. The magistrate judge reviewing the motions recommended that the district court grant defendant’s motion for summary judgment on the ground that the damage sustained by plaintiff during the asbestos removal process was not “fortuitous” and thus was not covered by the all-risk podcy. The district court adopted the magistrate judge’s recommendation. On February 24, 1994, the district court issued an order granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment, denying plaintiffs motion, and dismissing plaintiffs complaint with prejudice. This timely appeal fodowed.

II.

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Bluebook (online)
51 F.3d 1277, 1995 U.S. App. LEXIS 8706, 1995 WL 222392, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/university-of-cincinnati-v-arkwright-mutual-insurance-company-ca6-1995.