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Westinghouse Electric Corp. v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co.3/22/1988
[227 NJSuper Page 505] These declaratory judgment actions have been consolidated for the purpose of deciding the motion for dismissal on the basis of forum non conveniens.
FACTS
Westinghouse v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, et al, Docket No. L-069352-87.
This suit is against 140 plus insurance carriers who are alleged to have provided primary and excess coverage for property damage to Westinghouse from 1948 to the present. There are presently 33 attorneys representing the various carriers.
Westinghouse is seeking a declaration of coverage for 81 environmental sites, located in 23 states from California to Massachusetts. Presently there are nine suits pending against Westinghouse involving alleged contamination of waste sites. None of these suits are in New Jersey. Fifty-six of the sites are "non-owned" and Westinghouse is alleged to be one of the generators of toxic waste material on these sites rather than the owner. Nine of the 81 sites are located in New Jersey.
Westinghouse v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., et al., Docket No. L-069351-87.
This suit is a declaratory judgment action to determine the rights and obligations of Westinghouse and more than 100 liability carriers who provide Westinghouse with primary and excess coverage under Comprehensive General Liability policies from 1948 to the present. Westinghouse seeks a determination of its insurers' obligations with respect to past and future liabilities of Westinghouse arising out of various toxic exposure claims. The suit focuses principally on welding rod, PCB and asbestos-related claims. New Jersey's connection to Westinghouse asbestos matters is extremely limited. According to the information supplied by Westinghouse, it has been involved in 2,675 asbestos-related matters. Only 128 claims, less than five percent of the total, were filed in New Jersey.
An analysis of the PCB-related matters again reveals no connection with New Jersey. There are approximately 201 PCB-related matters which are at issue in this litigation and not one of these cases was filed in New Jersey.
The information supplied by Westinghouse reveals that it has been involved in 138 welding rod-related matters. Not one of these matters was filed in New Jersey.
Finally, Westinghouse seeks a declaration of its carriers' obligations with respect to a miscellaneous group of other toxic exposure matters. Westinghouse has identified 18 matters which fall within this classification and only one of these matters involves litigation filed in New Jersey.
JURISDICTION
Westinghouse is incorporated and has its principal place of business in Pennsylvania. Thermo King is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Minnesota. However, Westinghouse's presence in New Jersey is significant. It employs over 1,000 people in this State and paid more than $1.5 million in taxes to state and local governments in 1986. Westinghouse owns over 250 acres of property in this State, including its elevator division in Morristown and its apparatus service center in Hillside.
The defendant insurance companies are either incorporated in this state, authorized to conduct business in this state, or have expressly submitted to any forum chosen by Westinghouse to litigate insurance contract disputes.
Clearly there can be no dispute that New Jersey possesses jurisdiction over each of the defendants. The real question is whether New Jersey is the proper forum to decide these particular complaints.
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