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Travelers Casualty & Surety Co. v. Providence Washington Ins.

Country/Territory
United States of America
Type of court
National - higher court
Date
Jul 11, 2012
Source
UNEP, InforMEA
Court name
United States Court of Appeal for the First Circuit
Judge
Howard, Lipez and Thompson.
Reference number
No. 11-2193
Language
English
Subject
Environment gen., Legal questions
Keyword
Liability/compensation
Abstract
Invoking diversity jurisdiction, appellant Travelers Casualty and Surety Company, Inc. (Travelers) sought a declaratory judgment that appellee Providence Washington Insurance Company, Inc. (PWIC) is obliged to join in the defense of New England Container Company, Inc. (NE Container or NECC), in connection with a contribution action involving clean-up costs for the Rhode Island Centredale Manor Superfund Site. Granting summary judgment to PWIC, the district court ruled that PWIC did not owe NE Container a duty to defend in the underlying action. The Appeals Court reversed the decision, vacated the judgment, and remanded for the district court to enter judgment in favor of Travelers that the Emhart [Emhart Industries, Inc. also a responsible party] complaint triggered PWIC's defense obligations under its policies. Under the pleadings test, the Emhart complaint triggered PWIC's duty to defend under its policies issued in the mid-1980s. In so holding, the Court recognized that there is exponentially more to this sprawling litigation than the Emhart complaint and the PWIC policies. Litigation involving environmental damage at the Superfund Site was well on its way prior to the 2006 Emhart action, and the Emhart action had advanced beyond a nascent stage by the time Travelers pursued its 2010 action against PWIC. The duty to defend question before tha Appelate Court, however, begins and ends with the Rhode Island pleadings test.
Full text
COU-159583.pdf