 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Safeco Insurance Company of America v. Dale G. Kennedy & Sons Warehouse6/21/2002
FOR PUBLICATION
Cross-plaintiffs/appellants Jervis B. Webb Company (Webb), Indemnity Insurance Company of North America (IINA), and Westchester Insurance Company (Westchester) (hereinafter referred to collectively as "the Webb appellants") appeal as of right the trial court's order granting summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(10) in favor of cross- defendant/appellee Everest National Insurance Company (Everest) in this declaratory judgment action to determine the rights and obligations of the parties pursuant to a commercial automobile insurance policy issued by Everest to a third party, Kennedy & Sons Warehouse (Kennedy). We affirm.
This case has its origins in the unfortunate death of a Kennedy employee. The facts of the underlying action are not in dispute. On August 9, 1996, Webb employees loaded conveyor parts that Webb manufactured onto a flatbed trailer. The loading was conducted at Webb's facility in New Hudson, Michigan, in preparation for a shipment to a Chrysler Corporation assembly plant in Newark, Delaware. When Webb employees had completed the loading of the conveyor parts, Webb moved the trailer from its loading dock to a different location in the yard on its premises to await pick-up by Kennedy, the company which would then transport the Webb products to their destination. After moving the trailer into the yard, Webb had no further contact with the trailer.
The following day, August 10, 1996, Michael Beach, a truck driver employed by Kennedy, drove a Kennedy-owned tractor to Webb's facility to pick up the loaded trailer. Beach hooked his tractor to the trailer and returned to Kennedy's warehouse yard. At the yard, the securing straps were to be taken off the load and then new straps would be re-secured by an employee of an interstate carrier. While Beach was removing the last strap on the trailer, a large conveyor piece loaded by Webb fell and fatally struck him.
Connie Beach, as personal representative of the estate of Michael W. Beach, initiated a wrongful death action against Webb, alleging that Webb was negligent in the loading of the conveyor parts onto the trailer. The wrongful death action was ultimately settled for the composite sum of $1.5 million: Webb paid its self-insured portion of $150,000, its primary insurer IINA paid $850,000 and Webb's umbrella carrier, Westchester, paid $580,000 in the form of a structured settlement.
The present declaratory action was commenced by one of Kennedy's other insurers, Safeco Insurance Company of America (Safeco), against the Webb appellants, alleging that it had no duty to defend or indemnify Webb for the Beach action under either of its policies issued to Kennedy: a commercial general automobile liability policy and a hired auto and non-owned automobile liability endorsement. Safeco also claimed declaratory relief against Everest, identifying Everest as the automobile insurance carrier for Kennedy. The Webb appellants cross-claimed against Everest, seeking to recover through contribution or indemnification a portion of the settlement proceeds paid in the underlying action. The Webb appellants maintained that Webb was an additional insured under the Everest commercial automobile policy issued to Kennedy, which covered "anyone while using with your permission a covered 'auto' you own, hire or borrow." The Webb appellants also counterclaimed against Safeco, asserting a similar cause of action.
The parties to the declaratory judgment action filed cross-motions for summary disposition. Shortly before the scheduled motion hearing, Safeco settled its claim with the Webb appellants. Consequently, the hearing in circuit court focused on the "additional insured" issue betwe
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Michigan Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|