Utah Transit Authority v. Greyhound Lines, Inc.

2015 UT 53, 355 P.3d 947, 790 Utah Adv. Rep. 13, 2015 Utah LEXIS 184, 2015 WL 4155896
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 10, 2015
DocketCase No. 20131076
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 2015 UT 53 (Utah Transit Authority v. Greyhound Lines, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Utah Transit Authority v. Greyhound Lines, Inc., 2015 UT 53, 355 P.3d 947, 790 Utah Adv. Rep. 13, 2015 Utah LEXIS 184, 2015 WL 4155896 (Utah 2015).

Opinion

Chief Justice DURRANT,

opinion of the Court:

Introduction

T1 We have long strictly construed contractual provisions that call for one party to indemnify another, requiring that such provisions clearly and unequivocally manifest the intent to do so. In this case, we are asked to consider whether we should also strictly construe a contractual provision requiring one party to procure insurance for the benefit of another.

2 We conclude that while an agreement to indemnify is similar in some respects to an agreement to procure insurance, the policy we have identified as supporting strict construction of the former does not apply with equal force to the latter; and we decline, for reasons that we will describe, to require that an agreement to procure insurance be strictly construed.

13 This case involves a lease (Lease Agreement) between Greyhound Lines, Inc. (Greyhound), the lessee, and Utah Transit Authority (UTA), the lessor, for a section of UTA's intermodal transportation facility (In-termodal Hub). The dispute focuses on whether the insurance procurement provision of the Lease Agreement (section 10), which required Greyhound to purchase commercial general liability insurance covering UTA, required that this insurance cover UTA's negligent acts. Greyhound argues that under our caselaw a rule of strict construction applies to an agreement to provide insurance for another's benefit. But UTA argues that our caselaw does not require that we strictly construe such insurance procurement provisions. UTA also claims that under traditional contractual interpretation principles, section 10 required Greyhound to purchase insurance to cover UTA's negligent acts. Greyhound failed to purchase the required insurance, and thus UTA asserts that Greyhound breached the contract.

£4 The dispute between UTA and Greyhound arises in the context of a slip-and-fall personal injury claim that resulted from UTA's negligence. A Greyhound passenger, Alma Bradley, was on an interstate Greyhound bus trip when she stopped for a layover at the Intermodal Hub. During her layover, she walked outside the building and fell from a concrete pedestrian ramp. She sustained serious injuries. UTA admitted negli-genee in not installing a handrail on the pedestrian ramp. The injured passenger subsequently submitted a claim to UTA to recover for her injuries. UTA ultimately settled the claim for $50,000 and an agreement to satisfy any resulting Medicare Hens. UTA requested that Greyhound reimburse it for the cost of the claim under section 10 of the Lease Agreement. Greyhound again refused and this litigation resulted.

15 The district court issued a memorandum decision and a subsequent order on the parties' cross motions for summary judgment. In this order, the district court held (1) that the insurance procurement provision of the Lease Agreement is not subject to strict construction under Utah law; (2) that Greyhound was required under the Lease Agreement to secure insurance that covered UTA's negligent acts; (8) that Ms. Bradley's *950 personal injury claim triggered Greyhound's duty to provide insurance under the Lease Agreement; and (4) that Greyhound breached the contract by not securing insurance. The court entered judgment against Greyhound, awarding UTA damages for the breach. These damages included recovery for all of Ms. Bradley's settlement and UTA's attorney fees and costs.

T6 Greyhound has appealed the district court's decision on summary judgment and now asks us to review three issues: (1) whether under Utah law, an agreement to procure insurance for the benefit of another must be strictly construed; (2) whether the district court erred when it concluded that Ms. Bradley's claim triggered Greyhound's duty to procure insurance; and (8) whether the district court abused its discretion in awarding UTA's attorney fees. We affirm the district court's decision on all issues. We clarify that under Utah law, an agreement to procure insurance for the benefit of another is not subject to strict construction. Also, we conclude that under the traditional rules of contractual interpretation, Greyhound's duty to provide insurance to UTA was triggered, and this duty included the duty to provide insurance that covered UTA's negligent acts. As a result, we uphold the district court's finding that Greyhound breached the Lease Agreement. Finally, we uphold the district court's attorney fee award because it is reasonable and based on sufficient evidence in the record.

Background

17 Greyhound and UTA entered into a Lease Agreement on August 2, 2005. 1 Girey-hound leased a portion of UTA's Intermodal Hub, located in downtown Salt Lake City, as a passenger bus terminal for its interstate bus service. This case involves the interpretation of the Lease Agreement's indemnity and insurance procurement provisions as they relate to a slip-and-fall accident that occurred on the leased premises. UTA has admitted that the slip-and-fall accident resulted from its own negligence.

T8 On March 18, 2008, Ms. Alma Bradley was on a Greyhound bus trip between California and Idaho when she stopped for a layover at the Intermodal Hub. During her layover, Ms. Bradley walked outside the building, in the common area covered by the Lease Agreement, and fell from a concrete pedestrian ramp. She sustained serious injuries. UTA has admitted that it was negligent in not installing a handrail on the pedestrian ramp. Ms. Bradley subsequently submitted a claim to UTA to recover for her injuries. UTA requested that Greyhound "defend, indemnify and hold UTA harmless" from Ms. Bradley's claim. Greyhound refused. UTA ultimately settled the claim for $50,000 and an agreement to satisfy any of Ms. Bradley's resulting Medicare liens. After the settlement, UTA requested that Greyhound reimburse it for the cost of Ms. Bradley's claim. UTA sought reimbursement under section 10 of the Lease Agreement, the insurance procurement provision. Greyhound again refused and UTA filed a complaint in September 2009, claiming breach of contract, breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, and breach of fiduciary duty.

T9 The parties' dispute focuses on the proper interpretation of the Lease Agreement's indemnity and insurance procurement provisions. Greyhound argues that the insurance procurement provision did not require it to purchase insurance to cover UTA for liability arising from its own negligent acts (or provide such coverage through self-insurance); and therefore, it did not breach the contract by failing to purchase insurance from a third party or failing to self-insure. Greyhound argues that it did not have a duty to provide insurance for UTA's negligence, because the insurance procurement provision did not clearly and unequivocally state that the insurance Greyhound was to provide nee-essarily covered UTA's negligent acts. Greyhound argues that our caselaw, which requires strict construction of indemnity provisions, should apply with equal force to insurance procurement provisions. Further, *951 Greyhound claims that even if we decline to apply strict construction and instead apply traditional rules of contractual interpretation, it still did not have a duty under the Lease Agreement to provide insurance for UTA's negligence.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Vivint Solar v. Lundberg
2025 UT App 102 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2025)
England Logistics v. Kelles Transport Service
2024 UT App 137 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2024)
Invasix v. Hayes
D. Utah, 2023
North Fork Meadows Owners Association v. Dove
2023 UT App 107 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2023)
Bear v. Lifemap Assurance
2021 UT App 129 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2021)
Greyhound Lines v. UTA
2020 UT App 144 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2020)
Wihongi v. Catania SFH
2020 UT App 109 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2020)
Vanderwood v. Woodward
2019 UT App 140 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2019)
Grove Business Park v. Sealsource International
2019 UT App 76 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2019)
Utah Dep't of Transp. v. Kmart Corp.
2018 UT 54 (Utah Supreme Court, 2018)
Compton v. Houston Casualty Co.
2017 UT 17 (Utah Supreme Court, 2017)
Crapo v. Zions Bank
2017 UT 12 (Utah Supreme Court, 2017)
Iota v. Davco Management Company
2016 UT App 231 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2016)
Wing v. Code
2016 UT App 230 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2016)
Elite Legacy Corporation v. Schvaneveldt
2016 UT App 228 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2015 UT 53, 355 P.3d 947, 790 Utah Adv. Rep. 13, 2015 Utah LEXIS 184, 2015 WL 4155896, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/utah-transit-authority-v-greyhound-lines-inc-utah-2015.