Davis v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.
| Decision Date | 07 September 2001 |
| Docket Number | PLAINTIFF-COUNTER-DEFENDANT-APPELLANT,DEFENDANT-APPELLEE,DEFENDANT-COUNTER-CLAIMANT-APPELLEE,Docket No. 00-9249 |
| Parties | (2nd Cir. 2001) GARELD DAVIS,, v. LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY,, SCHWAN'S SALES ENTERPRISES, INC.,August Term 2001 Argued: |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Richard Kevin Bowen, Law Offices of Richard K. Bowen; Springfield, Vt, for Plaintiff-Counter-Defendant-Appellant Gerald Davis.
Lori Reuschel Choiniere, McCormick, Fitzpatrick, Kasper & Burchard; Burlington, Vt, for Defendant-Counter-Claimant-Appellee Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.
Robert P. Gerety, Jr.; White River Junction, Vt, for Defendant-Appellee Schwan's Sales Enterprises, Inc.
Before: Walker, Chief Judge, Newman and Calabresi, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff-appellant Gareld Davis appeals from a December 7, 1998 judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont (William K. Sessions III, District Judge). The final judgment was entered pursuant to two orders: an August 14, 1998 opinion and order, see Davis v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 19 F. Supp. 2d 193 (D. Vt. 1998), that held, inter alia, that a co-employee exclusion clause in a business automobile insurance policy does not violate section 800 of title 23 of Vermont Statutes Annotated, Vermont's financial responsibility statute ("section 800(a)"), see Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 23, § 800(a); and (2) a December 7, 1998 order that granted summary judgment to defendant- appellee Liberty Mutual Insurance Company ("Liberty Mutual") on its counterclaim for a statutory workers' compensation lien on Davis's $20,000 recovery from a third party.
The background of this case is substantially detailed in the district court's opinion. See Davis, 19 F. Supp. 2d at 195-96. Only the facts relevant to this appeal are set out herein.
Davis, an employee of defendant Schwan's Sales Enterprises ("Schwan's"), was severely injured when a Schwan's delivery truck in which he was a passenger and which was being driven by a fellow employee, Daniel Finnell, slid into a ditch and flipped over several times. When the accident occurred, Finnell and Davis were making a delivery in the course of their employment for Schwan's.
At the time of the accident, Schwan's had a workers' compensation insurance policy and a separate business automobile insurance policy (the "Auto Policy") through Liberty Mutual. The Auto Policy provided for up to two million dollars in liability insurance coverage for Schwan's employees who may be involved in an automobile accident while driving a Schwan's delivery vehicle in the course of their employment. However, the Auto Policy did not extend liability coverage to fellow employees, such as Davis, who suffered "[b]odily injury... arising out of and in the course of his or her employment" (the "co-employee exclusion"). Instead, a Schwan's employee so injured was required to look to Schwan's workers' compensation policy for relief.
Prior to bringing the present action against Schwan's and Liberty Mutual, Davis sued Finnell in Vermont state court seeking damages for the injuries he suffered in the accident. Davis and Finnell settled for $20,000, among other consideration.
In the present action, Davis seeks a declaratory judgment that, among other things, would render the Auto Policy's co-employee exclusion invalid and unenforceable. Liberty Mutual, having to date paid Davis over $85,000 under Schwan's workers' compensation policy, has counter- sued for a statutory workers' compensation lien on Finnell's $20,000 settlement of the state court action. The district court rejected Davis's request for a declaratory judgment, see Davis, 19 F. Supp. 2d at 200, and granted Liberty Mutual's request for the $20,000 workers' compensation lien, see id. at 203.
On appeal, Davis argues, among other things, that the district court erred in (1) denying him a declaratory judgment against enforcement of the co-employee exclusion, and (2) awarding Liberty Mutual the $20,000 workers' compensation lien. We consider both arguments in turn below.
With respect to his challenge to the validity of the co-employee exclusion, Davis contends that the exclusion violates section 800(a), which, for the period in question, provided in pertinent part:
No owner or operator of a motor vehicle required to be licensed shall operate or permit the operation of the vehicle upon the highways of the state without having in effect an automobile liability policy or bond in the amounts of at least $20,000.00 for one person and $40,000.00 for two or more persons killed or injured.... Affirmed in part, vacated in part and remanded.
Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 23, § 800(a).1
After a thorough application of the rules of statutory construction as followed by the Supreme Court of Vermont, the district court concluded that the co-employee exclusion did not contravene section 800(a). See Davis, 19 F. Supp. 2d at 197-200. The district court therefore denied Davis's request for declaratory relief.
Particularly relevant to the district court's conclusion were the following considerations. First, the purpose of section 800(a) is to ensure that every owner of a motor vehicle has at least $20,000 worth of liability insurance and, despite the co-employee exclusion to the Auto Policy, Schwan's had provided this minimum liability coverage through its workers' compensation policy. See id. at 198, 200. Second, "[a]s a matter of statutory interpretation, when the legislature enacted [section 800(a),] it was aware that workers' compensation was the sole and exclusive remedy available for employees injured in the scope of employment" and "[t]here is nothing to suggest that the legislature intended to nullify [the applicability of] its workers' compensation law with respect to fellow employees" involved in automobile accidents. Id. at 199. And third, the Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration, which is required to disapprove insurance policies that violate state law, see Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 8, § 3542, "reviewed the language of the [Auto Policy] and approved of the inclusion of the [co-employee] exclusion clause for business automobile liability insurance policies." Davis, 19 F. Supp. 2d at 200.
We agree with the district court's conclusion that the co-employee exclusion clause of the Auto Policy does not violate section 800(a). Cf. Crawford v. Lumbermen's Mut. Cas. Co., 220 A.2d 480 (Vt. 1966) (). In enacting this provision, the Vermont legislature sought to ensure that every motor vehicle operating on...
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