Woodrich Construction Co. v. Indemnity Insurance Co. of North America

89 N.W.2d 412, 252 Minn. 86, 1958 Minn. LEXIS 590
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedMarch 28, 1958
Docket37,175, 37,176, 37,177
StatusPublished
Cited by93 cases

This text of 89 N.W.2d 412 (Woodrich Construction Co. v. Indemnity Insurance Co. of North America) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Woodrich Construction Co. v. Indemnity Insurance Co. of North America, 89 N.W.2d 412, 252 Minn. 86, 1958 Minn. LEXIS 590 (Mich. 1958).

Opinion

Matson, Justice.

In an action — involving the construction of four insurance policies— brought by plaintiff insured to recover the amount it had paid in settlement of damages based upon an adjudicated liability for accidental injuries, three defendant insurers have each appealed from portions of an order granting or denying (as the case may be) motions for summary judgment.

Plaintiff, Woodrich Construction Company (herein called Woodrich), a general contractor engaged in road construction work, was one of the defendants in an earlier action appealed to this court, namely, Crawford v. Woodrich Const. Co. Inc. 239 Minn. 12, 57 N. W. (2d) 648. In that action, Woodrich and his subcontractor, Walter Baker, and Elmer Zaske, who owned and operated a truck hired by subcontractor Baker, were all sued as defendants by William M. Crawford for damages for personal injuries sustained by him while acting as a state inspector *89 on a Woodrich road construction job. Crawford was injured while he was making an alignment inspection and the Zaske truck backed over him. In that action the jury awarded plaintiff a verdict for $80,000 against Woodrich only. Upon appeal, the order denying an alternative motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or a new trial was affirmed. The Crawford case established as a matter of both fact and law that both Baker and Zaske were exonerated of all negligence and that the sole tortfeasor was Woodrich. The facts out of which the Crawford action arose are set forth in our decision in the Crawford case.

In order to understand the relationship of the parties to the present action, it is necessary to identify the insurers of the defendants in the Crawford case. On June 8, 1950, when the Crawford accident occurred, Woodrich was covered by a comprehensive general liability policy issued by Employers Mutual Liability Insurance Company of Wausau, Wisconsin (herein called Employers). Woodrich was also covered by a comprehensive automobile liability policy issued by Indemnity Insurance Company of North America (herein called Indemnity). Both Employers and Indemnity policies provided for payment up to a $50,000 limit of liability plus costs of defense for a case involving injury to a single person.

The subcontractor, Baker, was insured by Aetna Casualty & Surety Company (Aetna) under a comprehensive automobile liability policy with a limit of $15,000 for injury to a single person plus costs of defense. The driver and owner of the truck, Zaske, was insured under a comprehensive automobile liability policy issued by Milwaukee Automobile Mutual Insurance Company (Milwaukee) with a policy limit of $15,000 plus costs of defense.

Throughout the trial of the case, which finally resulted in a Crawford judgment for $80,000, Employers and Indemnity defended Wood-rich, Aetna defended Baker, and Milwaukee defended Zaske. The Crawford case was tried twice. Crawford obtained a verdict in the first trial against Woodrich only, and the trial judge set aside the verdict and granted a new trial. The second trial again resulted in a verdict for Crawford against Woodrich alone. On or about April 7, 1953, the Crawford judgment (which had been entered against Woodrich) was paid by Employers and Woodrich, Employers paying Crawford *90 $54,882.63 (liability under its policy plus interest) and Woodrich paying Crawford $31,617.37 in satisfaction of the judgment. Indemnity, Aetna, and Milwaukee made no payment on the Crawford judgment, and refused to contribute any portion of the judgment.

This action was commenced by Woodrich to recover on the Indemnity policy for the excess payment made on the Crawford judgment. Indemnity brought in as third-party defendants the subcontractor, Baker, and the truck driver and owner, Zaske, along with their respective insurers, Aetna and Milwaukee. Subsequently, Employers intervened in this action, seeking contribution from Indemnity, Aetna, and Milwaukee for the payment made by Employers on the Crawford judgment, and Woodrich amended its complaint to state a cause of action against Aetna and Milwaukee.

All parties moved for summary judgment. The trial court granted judgment for Baker and Zaske and dismissed them from the action. Indemnity’s motion was denied. The motions of Aetna and Milwaukee were denied unless upon subsequent trial they should establish their defenses of lack of notice, lack of cooperation, failure to tender defense, res judicata, and estoppel and waiver. The respective motions of plaintiff Woodrich and Employers, subject to the aforesaid conditional defenses of Aetna and Milwaukee, were granted with the effect that the four insurers, Employers, Indemnity, Aetna, and Milwaukee, were held concurrently liable for the payment of the Crawford judgment in proportion to the limits of their respective policies. The trial court, pursuant to M. S. A. 605.09(4), 1 as a part of its order certified that the questions raised by the order disposing of the motions were important and doubtful. The appeal herein is taken by Indemnity, Aetna, and Milwaukee.

Issues

In passing on the general question of whether the respective policies cover Woodrich’s liability in damages to Crawford, and in determining whether such coverage, where it exists, is excess or concurrent, this appeal raises a number of specific issues bearing on the interpretation .and construction of the several insurance contracts. (1) First we have *91 the basic issue of whether the liability of Woodrich to Crawford in negligence arose from a use of an automobile within the coverage of the Indemnity, Aetna, and Milwaukee auto liability polices, or whether such liability arose only from a general business risk covered by the Employers policy. (2) Was Woodrich as a matter of law legally responsible for the use of the Zaske truck within the meaning of the policies? (3) Was the Zaske truck, as to Woodrich, a hired or a non-owned automobile under the Indemnity and Aetna contracts? (4) Is the primary-tortfeasor doctrine applicable herein so as to qualify the liability risk under the Aetna policy or under the policy of any other insurer? (5) May there be an overlapping of liability between a general business risk policy (Employers) and an auto liability policy (Indemnity, Aetna, and Milwaukee)? We have an additional question relating to the propriety of the trial court’s order in granting summary judgment subject to a subsequent determination of certain defenses.

Contention as to Use of truck by Woodrich

Under the applicable provisions of their respective policies, Indemnity, Aetna, and Milwaukee contend that the negligence of Woodrich, as a proximate cause of Crawford’s injury, related solely to a general business risk and not to a risk arising out of the use of an automobile. As a facet of the absence-of-use contention, it is specifically urged that the negligent acts or omissions of Woodrich in failing to provide adequate supervision for the backing of the truck in the congested area did not involve an unloading of the Zaske truck and that, separate and independent of an actual unloading activity, such backing of the vehicle could not constitute a use of the truck.

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

Related

Rachelle R. Jackson v. Wisconsin County Mutual Insurance Corp.
2014 WI 36 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2014)
Ohio Casualty Insurance v. Herring-Jenkins
830 F. Supp. 2d 566 (N.D. Indiana, 2011)
Assoc Intl Ins Co v. Blythe
286 F.3d 780 (Fifth Circuit, 2002)
Associated International Insurance v. Blythe
286 F.3d 780 (Fifth Circuit, 2002)
Mickman Bros., Inc. v. Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co.
639 N.W.2d 890 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2002)
Belser v. Rockwood Casualty Insurance
791 A.2d 1216 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2002)
McPhee v. Tufty
2001 ND 51 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 2001)
Colfax Ex Rel. Colfax v. Johnson
11 P.3d 1171 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2000)
Goodville Mutual Casualty Co. v. Tripp
46 Pa. D. & C.4th 538 (Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas, 2000)
More Clinic v. Fireman's Fund Insurance Co.
575 N.W.2d 598 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1998)
North Star Mutual Insurance Co. v. Raincloud
563 N.W.2d 270 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1997)
Apcon Corp. v. Dana Trucking, Inc.
623 N.E.2d 806 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1993)
Kolby v. Northwest Produce Co., Inc.
505 N.W.2d 648 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1993)
Retail Systems, Inc. v. CNA Insurance Companies
469 N.W.2d 735 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1991)
Auto-Owners Insurance Co. v. Selisker
435 N.W.2d 866 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1989)
Ed Kraemer & Sons, Inc. v. Transit Casualty Co.
402 N.W.2d 216 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1987)
Glacier General Assurance Co. v. Continental Casualty Co.
605 F. Supp. 126 (District of Columbia, 1985)
Protective Insurance Co. v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co.-Indianapolis-Inc.
467 N.E.2d 786 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1984)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
89 N.W.2d 412, 252 Minn. 86, 1958 Minn. LEXIS 590, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/woodrich-construction-co-v-indemnity-insurance-co-of-north-america-minn-1958.