Filed: Jan. 16, 2006
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit F I L E D IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS January 16, 2006 FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Charles R. Fulbruge III )))))))))))))))))))))))))) Clerk No. 05-30526 Summary Calendar )))))))))))))))))))))))))) BULK PACK, INC., ET AL., Plaintiffs-Appellants, versus FIDELITY & DEPOSIT COMPANY OF MARYLAND; ET AL., Defendants-Appellees, Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana USDC No. 3:04-CV-01079-RGJ-JDK Before SMITH, G
Summary: United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit F I L E D IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS January 16, 2006 FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Charles R. Fulbruge III )))))))))))))))))))))))))) Clerk No. 05-30526 Summary Calendar )))))))))))))))))))))))))) BULK PACK, INC., ET AL., Plaintiffs-Appellants, versus FIDELITY & DEPOSIT COMPANY OF MARYLAND; ET AL., Defendants-Appellees, Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana USDC No. 3:04-CV-01079-RGJ-JDK Before SMITH, GA..
More
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
January 16, 2006
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
Charles R. Fulbruge III
)))))))))))))))))))))))))) Clerk
No. 05-30526
Summary Calendar
))))))))))))))))))))))))))
BULK PACK, INC., ET AL.,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
versus
FIDELITY & DEPOSIT COMPANY OF MARYLAND;
ET AL.,
Defendants-Appellees,
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Louisiana
USDC No. 3:04-CV-01079-RGJ-JDK
Before SMITH, GARZA, and PRADO, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
The question presented in this case is whether the district
court erred in granting summary judgment for Appellees Zurich
American Insurance Company and its subsidiary, Fidelity and Deposit
Company of Maryland, on Appellants’ claim that the insurers
wrongfully denied coverage of a loss. Because we find that summary
judgment was properly granted, we AFFIRM the district court’s
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that
this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except
under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
ruling.
I. BACKGROUND
Appellees issued a commercial crime insurance policy to Bulk
Pack, Inc. (“Bulk Pack”) and its operation in Mexico, Bulk-Pack de
Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V. (“Bulk-Pack de Mexico”), covering, inter
alia, acts of employee dishonesty. In September 2003, Appellants
discovered that Greg Garcia, a Bulk-Pack de Mexico employee, had
embezzled $411,932.24. Appellants contend that Garcia inflated
weekly requests for money transfers for operating expenses at the
Mexico location. Consequently, Darryl DeCelle, a Bulk Pack
employee, in Monroe, Louisiana, transferred money from Bulk Pack’s
BankOne Account in the United States to its BankOne Account in
Mexico, where dollars were exchanged for Mexican pesos to be used
by Bulk-Pack de Mexico for operations expenses. Garcia transferred
the surplusage to his own account. Upon receiving Appellants’ proof
of loss, Appellees denied coverage. Although there is no dispute
as to the fact that theft occurred, the parties’ disagreement
involves the policy’s territorial exclusion provision, which limits
coverage to certain geographic regions.1
The original petition for damages was filed in the Ouachita
Parish, Louisiana Fourth Judicial District Court on April 21, 2004.
1
The provision states, “This insurance covers only acts
committed or events occurring within the United States of
America, U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Canal Zone, or
Canada.”
-2-
The case was properly removed to federal district court pursuant to
28 U.S.C. § 1332. After discovery, the parties filed cross-motions
for summary judgment. The district court adopted the magistrate
judge’s report and recommendation on the issue being appealed,
whether the policy covers Greg Garcia’s thievery, and granted
summary judgment in favor of Appellees.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo,
applying the same standard as the district court. Shepherd v.
Comptroller of Pub. Accounts,
168 F.3d 871, 873 (5th Cir. 1999).
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c), summary
judgment is proper when the “pleadings, depositions, answers to
interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the
affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue of material
fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter
of law.” FED. R. CIV. P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett,
477 U.S.
317, 322–23 (1986); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.,
477 U.S. 242,
251–52 (1986). When making its determination, the court must draw
all justifiable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party.
Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255; Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v.
Zenith Radio Corp.,
475 U.S. 574, 587-88 (1986); Bodenheimer v. PPG
Indus., Inc.,
5 F.3d 955, 956 (5th Cir. 1993).
To defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment, the
non-movant must present more than a mere scintilla of evidence.
-3-
Anderson, 477 U.S. at 251. A factual dispute precludes a grant of
summary judgment if the evidence would permit a reasonable jury to
return a verdict for the nonmoving party. See Merritt-Campbell,
Inc. v. RxP Prods., Inc.,
164 F.3d 957, 961 (5th Cir. 1999).
III. DISCUSSION
Appellants argue that although the term “occurring,” which
appears in the territorial exclusion provision, is not defined, the
policy does provide a definition for the term “occurrence.”2
Therefore, they contend that the policy’s definition of “occurrence”
should be applied to the term “occurring.” As a result, Appellants
assert that because funds were transferred by DeCelle from Monroe,
Louisiana, some of the events occurred in the United States, and
should be covered under the policy. Additionally, Appellants
analogize cases dealing with venue in the context of federal mail
and wire fraud to their argument that because actions took place in
Louisiana, events under the policy occurred in Louisiana.
Appellees, on the other hand, argue that Appellants’ reliance on
venue cases is misplaced and that while Garcia inflated estimates
of Bulk-Pack de Mexico’s operations expenses, he embezzled the funds
when he transferred funds from Bulk-Pack de Mexico’s Mexican Bank
account to his own personal account. Specifically, Appellees assert
that because the illegal transfer of funds occurred in Mexico, and
2
The policy defines occurrence as “all loss caused by, or
involving, one or more ‘employees’, whether the result of a
single act or a series of acts.”
-4-
not the United States, the policy does not cover the $411,932.24
loss.
Under Louisiana law,3 courts should construe insurance policies
using the familiar principles of contract interpretation.
Times-Picayune Publ’g Corp. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co.,
421 F.3d 328,
331 (5th Cir. 2005) (quoting Trinity Indus., Inc. v. Ins. Co. of N.
Am.,
916 F.2d 267, 269 (5th Cir.1990)). The words of the policy
reflect the parties’ intentions and determine the extent of
coverage.
Id. at 331-32. The words “are to be construed in their
plain, ordinary, and popular sense.” Calcasieu-Marine Nat’l Bank
of Lake Charles v. Am. Employers' Ins. Co.,
533 F.2d 290, 296 (5th
Cir. 1976). Finally, “the court should consider the policy as a
whole, and interpret the policy to fulfill the reasonable
expectations of the parties in the light of the customs and usages
of the industry.” Times-Picayune, 421 F.3d at 331(quoting Trinity
Indus., 916 F.2d at 269.)).
We agree with the findings of the magistrate judge, as adopted
by the district court, that the terms of the policy are clear and
unambiguous. The policy covers loss due to employee dishonesty
committed within the United States, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico,
the Canal Zone, and Canada. The words of the policy do not reflect
3
Because this case falls within federal diversity
jurisdiction, we must apply Louisiana law. See Erie R.R. Co. v.
Tompkins,
304 U.S. 64, 79-80 (1938).
-5-
an agreement to provide coverage for acts committed in Mexico.
Moreover, there has been no allegation of dishonesty on the part of
DeCelle, the Bulk Pack employee in Louisiana. The fact that
Decelle, in accordance with his job description, transferred funds
from the United States, is not dispositive. The dishonest acts –
the request for inflated funds and the transfer of money from Bulk-
Pack de Mexico’s Mexican Bank account to Garcia’s personal account
– both occurred in Mexico.
IV. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the judgment of the
district court as to all claims.
AFFIRMED.
-6-