Sub-contractor's Liability Insurer Wins Summary Judgment

April 1, 2005

Todd A. Chamberlain and Daniel G. Pezold successfully filed a motion for summary judgment on behalf of Employers Fire Insurance Company in an insurance contribution action. .

Employers Fire insured a HVAC sub-contractor whose employee was seriously injured in a fall from a two- story construction site ladder when a shipping bracket camouflaged as a ladder rung gave way. The employee settled the liability case for $2.1 million. .

The insurers who funded the settlement then brought claims for implied indemnity and contribution against Employers and others for reimbursement of the settlement monies. The theories advanced by the insurers included claims that the general contractor was an additional insured under Employers policy. The defense filed a motion for summary judgment on behalf of Employers, asserting that the additional insured certificate and endorsement was issued the day after the accident and thus provided no coverage for the additional insured, or standing for the HVAC sub-contractor's insurer against Employers.

After a hotly contested hearing, the court granted the motion for summary judgment finding as a matter of law that the general contractor was not an insured under the policy at the time of the accident barring any coverage under the HVAC sub-contractor's liability policy.