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Griffith v. Wausau Business Insurance Co.3/4/2003
.Defendant-appellant, Wausau Business Insurance Company ("Wausau"), appeals from a final judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas awarding plaintiffs-appellees, Kathleen Griffith and James Griffith, (1) $636,046.13 on their claims for underinsured motorist ("UIM") coverage under an insurance policy Wausau issued, and (2) prejudgment interest from the date plaintiff Kathleen Griffith (individually, "plaintiff") was injured in a motor vehicle accident that gave rise to plaintiffs' UIM claims.
.On September 14, 1999, plaintiff was driving an automobile her husband James Griffith owned, when a vehicle Donald Riley was driving struck the Griffith vehicle head on, causing serious personal injury to plaintiff. Riley, at fault in the accident, was insured under an automobile liability insurance policy with State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company ("State Farm"). State Farm offered its liability limits of $100,000 in exchange for settlement of plaintiffs' claims against Riley and a waiver of plaintiffs' insurers' subrogation claims against Riley.
.At the time of the accident, plaintiff was employed as a teacher with the Granville Exempted Village School District ("Granville"), but was not acting within the course and scope of her employment. Wausau insured Granville under a business automobile insurance policy that provided uninsured/UIM motorist coverage in the amount of $1,000,000 per accident. Plaintiff submitted claims for UIM coverage under the Wausau policy, but Wausau denied plaintiff had coverage. On May 18, 2000, plaintiffs filed a complaint for declaratory judgment, asserting that by virtue of Scott-Pontzer v. Liberty Mut. Fire Ins. Co. (1999), 85 Ohio St.3d 660, plaintiff, as an employee of Granville, and James Griffith, as her spouse who had suffered a loss of consortium, were entitled to UIM coverage under Granville's insurance policy with Wausau.
.On September 27, 2001, following the parties' motion and cross-motion for summary judgment on the issue of coverage, the trial court concluded plaintiffs are entitled, pursuant to Scott-Pontzer, to UIM coverage under the Wausau business automobile policy issued to Granville, subject to actual damages. More particularly, the trial court noted the policy language defining an "insured" in the Wausau policy is identical to the policy language in Scott-Pontzer. Accordingly, the trial court applied the rationale of Scott-Pontzer and determined that, although the named insured of the Wausau policy is Granville, plaintiff, as an employee of Granville, is an "insured" for purposes of UIM coverage, even though she was not acting in the course and scope of her employment with Granville at the time of the accident. The trial court additionally determined James Griffith, as plaintiff's spouse, also is an insured for purposes of the policy's UIM coverage, pursuant to Ezawa v. Yasuda Fire & Marine Ins. Co. of Am. (1999), 86 Ohio St.3d 557. The court rejected Wausau's contention that Granville was not authorized to purchase UIM coverage for employees who were engaged in personal business.
.Following a jury trial on the issue of damages, the jury returned verdicts in favor of plaintiff in the amount of $731,446.13 and James Griffith in the amount of $6,600. On April 19, 2002, the trial court entered judgment against Wausau for $638,046.13, reflecting the combined jury award to plaintiffs, reduced by a setoff of $100,000 plaintiffs had received as settlement of their claims against Riley. On June 7, 2002, the trial court entered final judgment against Wausau, incorporating the previous judgment and awarding plaintiffs prejudgment interest calculated as of the date of the automobile accident on Septembe
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