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

País/Territorio
Estados Unidos de América
Tipo de la corte
Nacional - corte superior
Fecha
Jul 11, 2012
Fuente
UNEP, InforMEA
Nombre del tribunal
United States Court of Appeal for the First Circuit
Juez
Howard, Lipez and Thompson.
Número de referencia
No. 11-2193
Idioma
Inglés
Materia
Cuestiones jurídicas, Medio ambiente gen.
Palabra clave
Responsabilidad/indemnización
Resumen
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.
Texto completo
COU-159583.pdf