BARNES, Judge.
Peabody Energy Corporation, Peabody Coal Company, LLC, and Black Beauty Coal Company (collectively, "Peabody") appeal the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Beelman Truck Company ("Beelman") and North American Capacity Insurance Company ("NAC"). We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.
The dispositive issue we address is whether Peabody is an additional insured under an insurance policy issued by NAC.
Peabody owns property in Daviess County where it conducts mining operations, and Beelman is a trucking company. Beelman and Peabody entered into a Master Performance Agreement ("MPA"), which became effective on April 5, 2005, and continued for an initial term of one year. The MPA defined Peabody as "Owner" and Beelman as "Contractor." App. p. 280. The MPA provided in part:
Id. at 281.
Beelman had a commercial general liability insurance policy ("the Policy") with NAC, which was effective from December 1, 2004, to December 1, 2005. The Policy contained an additional insured endorsement that provided:
Id. at 209 (emphasis added). A certificate of liability insurance was issued to Peabody referencing the Policy by number. The certificate named Peabody as the certificate holder and provided, "Certificate holder is an additional insured with respect to the auto and general liability." Id. at 289.
Richard Roark was employed by Beelman as a truck driver. On June 22, 2005, while working for Beelman, Roark delivered a load of ash from a power plant to Peabody's mine. Roark backed the Beelman truck into a spot at the mine to dump the load of ash. Roark got out of the truck to release the air brakes, which were controlled by switches on the side of the trailer. As he walked toward the middle of the trailer to release the switches, the ground gave away, and Roark went down into the ground past his knee.
Peabody eventually filed a third-party complaint in Roark's lawsuit requesting indemnification from Beelman, alleging that Beelman had breached the MPA, and seeking declaratory judgment regarding NAC's obligation to provide coverage based on the Policy. Beelman and NAC denied the allegations, and NAC sought a declaratory judgment against Peabody. Peabody filed a motion for partial summary judgment against NAC. NAC and Beelman also filed motions for summary judgment against Peabody. After the matter was fully briefed and a hearing was conducted, the trial court entered final judgment in favor of Beelman and NAC and against Peabody. The trial court summarized its twenty-five pages of findings and conclusions as follows:
Id. at 40. Peabody now appeals.
Peabody argues that the trial court improperly granted NAC's and Beelman's motions for summary judgment and denied its motion for summary judgment. "We review an appeal of a trial court's ruling on a motion for summary judgment using the same standard applicable to the trial court." Perdue v. Gargano, 964 N.E.2d 825, 831 (Ind.2012). "Therefore, summary judgment is appropriate only if the designated evidence reveals `no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.'" Id. (quoting Ind. Trial Rule 56(C)). Our review of summary judgment is limited to evidence designated to the trial court. Id. (citing T.R. 56(H)). All facts and reasonable inferences drawn
Peabody argues that it is entitled to coverage from NAC as an additional insured under the Policy. Alternatively, Peabody argues that, if it is not entitled to coverage under the Policy, Beelman has breached the MPA by failing to provide the insurance described in Section 18(D).
"Insurance policies are governed by the same rules of construction as other contracts, and their interpretation is a question of law." Masten v. AMCO Ins. Co., 953 N.E.2d 566, 569 (Ind.Ct.App. 2011), trans. denied. When interpreting an insurance policy, our goal is to ascertain and enforce the parties' intent as manifested in the policy, and we construe the policy as a whole and consider all of the provisions of the policy and not just individual words, phrases, or paragraphs. Id. "Because we construe insurance policies as a whole in each case, prior cases that focus upon similar or identical clauses or exclusions are not necessarily determinative of later cases because the insurance policies as a whole may differ." Id.
The relevant portion of the Policy's additional insured endorsement provides:
App. p. 209 (emphasis added). In asserting that Peabody's liability does not arise out of Beelman's operations, NAC relies on Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. v. Michigan Mutual Ins. Co., 891 N.E.2d 99 (Ind.Ct. App.2008), a case interpreting an additional insured endorsement. In that case, Linda Swann, an employee of Trilithic, slipped and fell on a snow and ice covered pathway leading from the employee parking lot to a door at the back of the Triltihic facility, which Trilithic leased from Duke. Under the lease, it was Duke's responsibility to maintain common areas including the pathway where Swann was injured. In accordance with the lease, Trilithic obtained a commercial general liability policy from Michigan Mutual in which Trilithic was the named insured and an endorsement designated Duke as an additional insured. The additional insured endorsement provided:
Liberty Mutual, 891 N.E.2d at 100. Swarm and her husband sued Duke, and Duke tendered the defense of the action to Michigan Mutual pursuant to the additional insured endorsement. Michigan Mutual declined to defend or indemnify Duke. Litigation ensued between Liberty Mutual, Duke's insurer, and Michigan Mutual, and the trial court eventually declared that Michigan Mutual had no obligation to defend or indemnify Duke against the Swanns' claims.
On appeal, we noted that there were no Indiana cases interpreting the boilerplate additional insured endorsement at issue.
Id.
In analyzing the connection between the accident and the leased premises, we considered that the accident occurred in a common area outside of the leased premises and under Duke's control, that there was no physical connection between the accident and the leased premises or Trilithic's business operations thereon, and that there was no allegation that the ice and snow on which Swann slipped was caused by the leased premises, was connected to work done on the leased premises, or had any other significant connection with the leased premises. Id. at 105. We observed that the accident arose out of Duke's own failure to maintain the pathway from the parking lot to the employee entrance and that "[t]he only way Swann's fall was even remotely related to the leased premises was due to the fact Swann was on her way to work." Id. We deemed this "isolated connection" to be insufficient to bring the accident within the coverage of the policy under the additional insured endorsement and held that Michigan Mutual had no duty to defend or indemnify Duke. Id.
Even if we agree with Liberty Mutual that an expansive interpretation of an additional insured endorsement such as the one here should be rejected, Liberty Mutual does not resolve the question of whether Peabody is entitled to coverage under the Policy. The policy language and facts of Liberty Mutual are easily distinguishable from the policy language and circumstances before us today.
First, although both cases apparently involve negligence claims based on premises liability theories, the relevant policy language is different. At issue here is whether the liability arises "out of [Beelman's] operations," not whether the liability arises out of "ownership, maintenance or use of" a leased premises, which was at issue in Liberty Mutual. App. p. 209; Liberty Mutual, 891 N.E.2d at 100. Thus, although Liberty Mutual's focus on the "connection with the leased premises" may be appropriate in the landlord-tenant context, is of limited application here. Id. at 104.
Aside from the differences in the policy language, Liberty Mutual is also factually distinguishable because Roark was not on Peabody's property as a means to an end — to get to work — as Swarm was. Instead, Roark was at Peabody's mine as part of his employment as a truck driver for Beelman.
Id. at 608.
The parties do not direct us to any designated evidence suggesting that Roark was injured while acting outside the scope of his employment or while undertaking a task unrelated to Beelman's operations when he was injured. Cf. Davis v. LTV Steel, Co., 128 Ohio App.3d 733, 716 N.E.2d 766 (1998) (concluding that LTV was not an additional insured "with respect to liability arising out of [Shafer's] operations" for injuries incurred by Shafer employees who were injured on LTV's premises while performing a task "not contemplated as part of Shafer's duties pursuant to its contract with LTV."). Unlike in Liberty Mutual, the connection between Roark's presence at the mine and his injuries was not "incidental" or "isolated;" instead, Roark's injuries were directly related to his work as a truck driver for Beelman. Liberty Mutual, 891 N.E.2d at 104, 105. Regardless of whether Roark was injured because of Peabody's sole negligence, the designated evidence shows that Roark's injuries — the basis of Peabody's potential liability — arose out of Beelman's operations. Thus, Peabody is an additional insured under the Policy.
Because Roark's injuries arose out of Beelman's operations, Peabody is an additional insured under the Policy. As such, Peabody, not NAC, is entitled to summary judgment on the declaratory judgment action. Further, because Peabody is an additional insured under the Policy, Beelman did not breach the MPA. Thus, summary judgment in favor of Beelman was appropriate. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
VAIDIK, J., and MATHIAS, J., concur.
Elkins, 2000 WL 724006 at 2 (footnote omitted).