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Springdale Donuts Inc. v. Aetna Casualty and Surety Co.3/2/1999
, the insurer is not required to defend. Smedley Co. v. Employers Mutual Liability Ins. Co., [143 Conn. 510, 517, 123 A.2d 755 (1956)]." (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Flint v. Universal Machine Co., 238 Conn. 637, 646-47, 679 A.2d 929 (1996). Thus, only if the underlying complaints set forth a cause of action within the coverage of the plaintiff's workers' compensation policy did the policy obligate the defendants to defend the plaintiff in those actions. We turn our attention, therefore, to the terms of the plaintiff's workers' compensation policy.
The plaintiff maintains that the language of the coverage provisions of the workers' compensation policy is ambiguous. Part 1 (C) of the plaintiff's policy provides that the insurer has "the right and duty to defend at expense any claim, proceeding or suit against [the plaintiff] for benefits payable by this insurance. . . . [The insurer has] no duty to defend a claim, proceeding or suit that is not covered by this insurance." Part 1 (B), pertaining to benefits payable by the workers' compensation policy, provides that the insurer "will pay promptly when due the benefits required of [the plaintiff] by the workers compensation law." Thus, the policy unambiguously states that the defendants are obligated to defend any claim, proceeding or suit against the plaintiff for benefits payable by the workers' compensation policy. The benefits payable by the workers' compensation policy are limited to only those required of the plaintiff by workers' compensation law. Consequently, the defendants are obligated to defend any claim, proceeding or suit against the plaintiff for benefits payable by the plaintiff pursuant to the workers' compensation law. Thus, if the plaintiff is not required to pay benefits under the workers' compensation law, the coverage of the policy clearly is not invoked and, therefore, the defendants' duty to defend is not triggered. See Plainville v. Travelers Indemnity Co., 178 Conn. 664, 425 A.2d 131 (1979) (insurance contract covering workers' compensation liability does not cover claims for benefits pursuant to General Statutes ยง 7-433c).
In the plaintiff's view, the use in part 1 (C) of the word "suit" in the phrase "defend . . . any claim, proceeding or suit against [the plaintiff] for benefits payable by this insurance" creates an ambiguity because, in order to recover workers' compensation benefits, employees bring "claims" rather than "suits" against their employers. We previously have stated, however, that we "will not torture words to import ambiguity where the ordinary meaning leaves no room for ambiguity, and words do not become ambiguous simply because lawyers or laymen contend for different meanings." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Schultz v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co., 213 Conn. 696, 703, 569 A.2d 1131 (1990). Viewed in its entirety, the policy language unequivocally indicates that the policy was intended to provide coverage only for claims for workers' compensation benefits. Because the underlying claims were filed in federal court, not with the workers' compensation commission, and did not state any claims for workers' compensation benefits, the underlying claims are not within the purview of the plaintiff's workers' compensation policy. We conclude, therefore, that the defendants had no duty under the plaintiff's workers' compensation policy to defend the plaintiff against the underlying claims.
II
The plaintiff next argues that the trial court improperly concluded that the defendants had no duty pursuant to its commercial general liability policy to defend the plaintiff against the underlying claims. Specifically, the plaintiff maintains that the allegations set forth in
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