MORRISON C. ENGLAND, Jr., District Judge.
This action proceeds on the first and fourth claim for relief in Plaintiff American States Insurance Company's ("Plaintiff") Corrected Third Amended Complaint. In the first claim for relief, Plaintiff requests that the Court declare that Defendant Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania ("Defendant") had an independent duty to defend its insured, Sierra Pacific Industries ("Sierra"), in various lawsuits arising from the "Moonlight Fire." ECF No. 59. In the fourth claim for relief, Plaintiff seeks "equitable contribution or other equitable relief against [Defendant] for reimbursement of those sums [Plaintiff] paid in Sierra's defense in the Moonlight Fire Lawsuits in excess of its equitable share, plus prejudgment interest."
Pending before the Court are the parties' cross motions for summary judgment. ECF Nos. 85, 89. Plaintiff seeks summary judgment on the first claim for relief and Defendant seeks summary judgment on both claims for relief. For the reasons that follow, Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 85) is GRANTED and Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 99) is DENIED.
In February 2007, Sierra obtained rights to a timber harvesting operation on a parcel of land in Plumas County, California. Sierra then hired Howell's Forest Harvesting ("Howell") to perform certain timber harvest operations on this land under the terms of a logging agreement. The logging agreement required Howell to obtain Commercial General Liability ("CGL") insurance and to name Sierra as an additional insured under its CGL policy.
In July 2007, Plaintiff issued CGL insurance to Howell. Sierra was included as an additional insured under a "Liability Plus Endorsement" page stating that an insured under the CGL policy includes "[a]ny person or organization . . . for whom you are required by written contract, agreement[,] or permit to provide insurance." However, this insurance coverage for Sierra as an additional insured was limited "only to the extent [Howell] [is] held liable due to: . . . [Howell's] ongoing operations for [Sierra]." Thus, while there is no dispute that Plaintiff's coverage for Sierra was primary in nature, it was limited to Sierra's vicarious liability as to Howell, and Sierra's independent liability was not covered under Plaintiff's CGL Policy with Howell.
In October 2006, Defendant issued Sierra a commercial umbrella insurance policy that provided both primary and excess coverage. Defendant's policy for Sierra delineates its duty to defend as follows:
Thus, under clause (a), Defendant's policy provides excess insurance when Sierra is vicariously liable with Howell and Plaintiff's policy limits are exhausted by payment of claims. Additionally, Defendant's policy provides umbrella, or primary, insurance under clause (b) when property damage arises from Sierra's non-vicarious liability with Howell pursuant to Plaintiff's CGL policy.
In September 2007, "Howell employees were allegedly operating bulldozers . . . pursuant to the [l]ogging [a]greement [with Sierra]," when a fire ignited nearby that "eventually burn[ed] approximately 65,000 acres in the area." Sparks caused by Howell's bulldozers allegedly caused the conflagration, which became known as the Moonlight Fire. Multiple lawsuits were filed against both Sierra and Howell as a result of the fire, all of which Sierra tendered to both Plaintiff and Defendant. Plaintiff accepted Sierra's defense in all of the fire-related lawsuits "without a reservation of rights to deny coverage for any damages awarded against Sierra, subject to available policy limits and California law. . . ." Thus, Plaintiff agreed to defend and indemnify Sierra for not only suits where Sierra was vicariously liable with Howell—which was covered under Plaintiff's CGL policy—but also where Sierra was independently liable.
Because Plaintiff's CGL policy only covered Sierra for vicarious liability with Howell, however, Sierra took the position that Plaintiff had a conflict of interest in defending Sierra. As a result of this conflict, Sierra argued it was entitled to independent counsel. Sierra maintained this stance throughout the lifetime of the fire-related lawsuits—despite the fact that Plaintiff accepted defense of the lawsuits without reservation—and Sierra obtained outside counsel for its defense. At no time did Defendant defend or attempt to defend Sierra in any of the fire-related lawsuits.
In July 2012, the fire-related suits against Sierra settled, exhausting both Plaintiff's and Defendant's respective policy limits. Defendant disputed its defense costs with Sierra, but Defendant and Sierra have settled this dispute. Plaintiff and Sierra also disputed defense costs with one another, but Plaintiff settled that dispute as well and "released all claims against [Sierra] . . . while expressly preserving all [Plaintiff's] rights against [Defendant] with respect to its payments of Sierra's defense costs. . . ."
The pending motions for summary judgment present a single issue: whether Defendant had a duty to defend Sierra in each of the Moonlight Fire actions such that Plaintiff was entitled to reimbursement for a portion of the costs it paid to defend Sierra.
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provide for summary judgment when "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." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a);
In a summary judgment motion, the moving party always bears the initial responsibility of informing the court of the basis for the motion and identifying the portions in the record "which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact."
In attempting to establish the existence or non-existence of a genuine factual dispute, the party must support its assertion by "citing to particular parts of materials in the record, including depositions, documents, electronically stored information, affidavits[,] or declarations . . . or other materials; or showing that the materials cited do not establish the absence or presence of a genuine dispute, or that an adverse party cannot produce admissible evidence to support the fact." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1). The opposing party must demonstrate that the fact in contention is material, i.e., a fact that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law.
In resolving a summary judgment motion, the evidence of the opposing party is to be believed, and all reasonable inferences that may be drawn from the facts placed before the court must be drawn in favor of the opposing party.
Defendant had a primary duty to defend Sierra in the Moonlight Fire lawsuits. Under Plaintiff's CGL policy with Howell, Plaintiff was required to defend Sierra for lawsuits "only to the extent [Howell] [was] held liable due to: . . . [Howell's] ongoing operations for [Sierra]." Thus, Plaintiff was only required to defend Sierra for lawsuits in which Sierra was vicariously liable with Howell.
Conversely, Defendant's umbrella policy stated that:
Defendant's umbrella policy therefore covered Sierra for any claim or suit seeking damages for property damage which was not covered by Plaintiff's policy or any other underlying insurance policy. Defendant's policy therefore drops down and becomes primary coverage for suits in which Sierra is independently liable for property damage.
In the Moonlight Fire lawsuits filed against Sierra, the plaintiffs alleged that Sierra could have been independently liable for the fire because of Sierra's responsibility to suspend operations in certain weather conditions.
Umbrella coverage, like that Defendant promised to provide in clause (b) of its defense agreement, may provide primary insurance coverage for damages not covered by any underlying insurance.
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Accordingly, Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED, as Defendant had a primary and independent duty to defend Sierra in the Moonlight Fire lawsuits.
Defendant advances several arguments in its Motion for Summary Judgment and its Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment. The Court will address each in turn.
Defendant first argues that a condition to its coverage—specifically, that there be no "other underlying insurance"—was not met because both Plaintiff and Defendant "provided coverage for the damages alleged in the Moonlight Fire Lawsuits." Def.'s Mot. Summ. J., ECF No. 99, at 9. Defendant contends that "[b]ecause the Moonlight Fire Lawsuits sought damages for property damage that were covered by [Plaintiff's] policy," Defendant's duty to defend under the umbrella coverage was never triggered.
Defendant is incorrect in asserting that "both policies covered the same damages sought" in the Moonlight Fire actions.
Defendant next argues that Plaintiff's policy "broadly provided that [Plaintiff] would defend Sierra against any `suit' seeking damages because of property damage."
Defendant's reading of Plaintiff's policy is not persuasive. Contrary to Defendant's suggestion, the "only to the extent [Howell] is held liable" language in Plaintiff's policy limits coverage solely to Sierra's liability for Howell's conduct. In
Defendant further argues that the claims against Sierra in the Moonlight Fire actions were "vicarious liability" claims and therefore within the scope of Plaintiff's policy because breach of non-delegable duties is a form of vicarious liability. Def.'s Mot. Summ. J., ECF No. 99, at 16. This argument is also not persuasive. As Plaintiff notes in its Opposition to Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment, the California Supreme Court has made clear that the negligent hiring and supervision claims asserted against Sierra in the Moonlight Fire actions are forms of independent, non-vicarious liability.
Defendant's next argument is based on the logging agreement between Sierra and Howell. Defendant emphasizes that this agreement required Howell to obtain insurance which was primary and non-contributory with any insurance held by Sierra. Defendant's argument fails for three reasons. First, Plaintiff's policy with Howell does not contain any provision indicating that its additional insured coverage for Sierra is primary to and non-contributory with Sierra's own coverage. Second, Plaintiff was not a party to the logging agreement between Sierra and Howell, and Plaintiff's policy with Howell should not be rewritten to comply with the logging agreement.
Finally, Defendant emphasizes the "other insurance" provision in its policy, which provides:
Defendant claims that Plaintiff's policy is "valid and collectible" and applied to the Moonlight Fire actions. Def.'s Mot. Summ. J., ECF No. 99, at 19. The Court rejects this argument because the "other insurance" provision in Defendant's policy did not apply to the Moonlight Fire actions. Again: Plaintiff was only required to defend Sierra in lawsuits in which Sierra was vicariously liable for Howell, and Defendant's policy dropped down and became primary coverage for suits in which Sierra was independently liable for property damage. Thus, the "other insurance" provision in Defendant's policy did not eliminate Defendant's duty to defend Sierra in the Moonlight Fire actions.
Defendant's arguments do not undermine the Court's finding that Defendant had a primary and independent duty to defend Sierra in the Moonlight Fire lawsuits. Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is accordingly DENIED.
Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 85) is GRANTED, and Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 99) is DENIED. Plaintiff is entitled to summary judgment on its first claim for relief, as Defendant had a primary and independent duty to defend Sierra in the Moonlight Fire lawsuits.