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Byers v. Auto-Owners Insurance Co.11/21/2003
Opinion Vote: AFFIRMED.
Parrish and Shrum, JJ., concur.
Opinion:
AFFIRMED
Patrick A. Duncan ("Duncan") was killed in an automobile accident in Arkansas. The driver of the other vehicle, Jason Klein ("Klein"), resided in the State of Arkansas as did the insured, Dennis Honl (" Honl"), an employee of Fred C. Stoker & Sons, Inc. ("Stoker" ). Stoker, a Tennessee corporation that engages in the manufacture and distribution of pouch tobacco, owned the automobile that Klein was driving and insured it with Auto-Owners Insurance Company ("Auto-Owners"). Auto-Owners appeals the grant of summary judgment against it wherein the court found that Auto-Owners was subject to an equitable garnishment action by a Missouri resident, Edna Byers ("Byers") as the personal representative of the Duncan estate. We affirm.
The pleadings and other documents before us reveal the following: Auto-Owners, which maintains an underwriting and claims office in Brentwood, Tennessee, began providing commercial automobile liability coverage for Stoker in 1994, through the Dresden Insurance Agency in Dresden, Tennessee. The premiums and the policy were renewed yearly and paperwork frequently moved from the Dresden agency to the Auto-Owners office in Brentwood. The policy provided liability insurance on vehicles owned or leased by Stoker with each vehicle being assigned to a specific, identified driver who was a Stoker employee. In 1998, Honl, was added to the policy as the driver of a 1999 Chevrolet Venture minivan. While the van was licensed in Tennessee, Mr. Honl was a resident of Hot Springs, Arkansas, had an Arkansas driver's license, and would be driving the van exclusively within the 100 mile radius of his Arkansas home. Stoker instructed Honl and its other employees that the vans were not for personal use and further required them to sign a memorandum agreeing that they would be the sole drivers of the vehicles assigned to them.
On August 20, 2000, Honl permitted his wife, Robin Honl ("Mrs. Honl" ), to drive the insured minivan to Fayetteville, Arkansas. On the return trip, Mrs. Honl allowed her daughter's boyfriend, Klein, who was also an Arkansas resident, to drive the van. While he was driving, Klein was involved in a motor vehicle accident that killed not only Mrs. Honl but the driver of the other vehicle, Duncan. Byers, the personal representative of the estate of Duncan, filed a wrongful death action against Klein in United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. On October 31, 2001, a judgment was entered against Klein in Arkansas, the jurisdiction where the accident occurred, Klein resided, and the insured van was garaged.
On February 16, 2001, Auto-Owners filed a declaratory judgment action in Weakley County, Tennessee, the location of the agency that issued the Stoker policy, Dresden Insurance Agency. Auto-Owners' suit against Byers sought a declaration of its rights and obligations to Klein by virtue of the insurance policy it issued to Stoker. On March 23, 2001, Byers filed a Motion to Dismiss based on a lack of personal contacts with the state of Tennessee and the doctrine of forum non conveniens. An entry of summary judgment was entered and the Weakley County Court found that Auto-Owners had no duty to defend Klein or to pay the Arkansas judgment against him.
Thereafter, on December 11, 2001, Byers filed a Petition for Equitable Garnishment against Auto-Owners in the Circuit Court of Greene County, Missouri for the full amount of the Arkansas judgment against Klein. Both parties filed motions requesting summary judgment
on issues of law. The parties agreed that there were no issues of ma
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