Filed: Sep. 09, 2016
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT September 9, 2016 _ Elisabeth A. Shumaker Clerk of Court SABLE COVE CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION; EDGE CONSTRUCTION, LLC, Plaintiffs - Appellants, v. No. 15-1261 (D.C. No. 1:14-CV-00912-MJW) OWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY, (D. Colo.) Defendant - Appellee. _ ORDER AND JUDGMENT* _ Before HARTZ, EBEL, and MORITZ, Circuit Judges. _ Sable Cove Condominium Association (“Sable Cove”) purchased property insuranc
Summary: FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT September 9, 2016 _ Elisabeth A. Shumaker Clerk of Court SABLE COVE CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION; EDGE CONSTRUCTION, LLC, Plaintiffs - Appellants, v. No. 15-1261 (D.C. No. 1:14-CV-00912-MJW) OWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY, (D. Colo.) Defendant - Appellee. _ ORDER AND JUDGMENT* _ Before HARTZ, EBEL, and MORITZ, Circuit Judges. _ Sable Cove Condominium Association (“Sable Cove”) purchased property insurance..
More
FILED
United States Court of Appeals
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT September 9, 2016
_________________________________
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
SABLE COVE CONDOMINIUM
ASSOCIATION; EDGE
CONSTRUCTION, LLC,
Plaintiffs - Appellants,
v. No. 15-1261
(D.C. No. 1:14-CV-00912-MJW)
OWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY, (D. Colo.)
Defendant - Appellee.
_________________________________
ORDER AND JUDGMENT*
_________________________________
Before HARTZ, EBEL, and MORITZ, Circuit Judges.
_________________________________
Sable Cove Condominium Association (“Sable Cove”) purchased property
insurance from Owners Insurance Co. (“Owners Insurance”). When a storm damaged
the roofs of Sable Cove’s condominiums, Owners Insurance, pursuant to the terms of
the property insurance policy, paid to have the roofs repaired. Owners Insurance,
however, refused to pay for a general contractor’s overhead and profit, deeming a
general contractor to be unnecessary because the repairs involved only a single
construction trade (roofing) and were not complex.
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law
of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its
persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.
In this diversity case governed by Colorado law, Plaintiff-Appellant Edge
Construction Co. (“Edge”), the roofing project’s general contractor, sued Owners
Insurance.1 Two of Edge’s claims are at issue here: 1) Edge, acting as Sable Cove’s
assignee, alleged that, by refusing to pay a general contractor’s overhead and profit,
Owners Insurance breached the insurance policy; and 2) acting on its own behalf,
Edge alleged that Owners Insurance unreasonably delayed or denied an insurance
claim, contrary to Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 10-3-1115 and 10-3-1116.2 The district court
(the parties consented to a magistrate judge deciding their case, see 28 U.S.C.
§ 636(c)), entered summary judgment for Owners Insurance on both claims,
concluding that Sable Cove had forfeited its claim for a general contractor’s overhead
and profit because Sable Cove failed to cooperate with Owners Insurance’s
investigation into whether a general contractor was necessary to repair the
condominium roofs. Edge appeals that decision.
In ruling for Owners Insurance, the district court granted Owners Insurance’s
summary judgment motion and denied Edge’s two motions for summary judgment.
We review the district court’s summary judgment decisions de novo. See United
1
Edge initiated this litigation in Colorado state court, but Owners Insurance removed
the case to federal court, invoking federal courts’ diversity jurisdiction, see 28 U.S.C.
§ 1332(a)(1). Although we inquired during oral argument whether there was
complete diversity, see Middleton v. Stephenson,
749 F.3d 1197, 1200 (10th Cir.
2014), we are now satisfied that the parties are diverse and we have federal subject-
matter jurisdiction.
2
The Colorado legislature amended Colo. Rev. Stat. § 10-3-1115 in 2016, but that
amendment is not relevant here.
2
States v. Supreme Ct. of N.M.,
824 F.3d 1263, 1280 (10th Cir. 2016). Fed. R. Civ. P.
56(a) requires a court to “grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is
no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a
matter of law.” “Where, as here, we are presented with cross-motions for summary
judgment, we must view each motion separately, in the light most favorable to the
non-moving party, and draw all reasonable inferences in that party’s favor.”
Supreme Ct. of
N.M., 824 F.3d at 1280 (internal quotation marks omitted).
After considering the parties’ arguments raised on appeal and having
jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we AFFIRM for substantially the reasons stated
in the district court’s decision.3
Entered for the Court
David M. Ebel
Circuit Judge
3
Edge filed Volumes VI and VII of its appellate appendix under seal. Upon this
Court’s inquiry, the parties indicated that, at most, only pages 878 to 894, found in
Volume VI, need to be sealed. Those specific pages will remain sealed, but the rest
of Volumes VI and VII will be unsealed.
3