NGM Ins. Co. v. Pillsbury
Decision Date | 12 September 2019 |
Docket Number | Civ.Act.No. 17-40163-TSH |
Citation | 416 F.Supp.3d 57 |
Parties | NGM INSURANCE COMPANY, Plaintiff v. Marc PILLSBURY, Jennifer Pillsbury, Jane Mansfield, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Thomas Mansfield and Jane Mansfield, Defendants. |
Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
Scott T. Ober, David F. Hassett, Michael S. Melville, Hassett & Donnelly, P.C., Worcester, MA for Plaintiffs.
Richard H. Maynard, Law Offices of Richard H. Maynard, PC, Belchertown, MA for Defendant.
NGM Insurance Company ("NGM") has filed an action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2201 seeking a declaration of rights and obligations under an automobile insurance policy it issued to Marc Pillsbury ("M. Pillsbury"). M. Pillsbury is being sued in state court with wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits by Jane Mansfield, representative of the Estate of Thomas Mansfield ("Estate") and Jane Mansfield ("J. Mansfield"), individually, as the result of an accident involving a car driven by M. Pillsbury. NMG seeks a declaratory judgment that it has no duty to defend or indemnify M. Pillsbury in those actions.
This Memorandum of Decision and Order addresses Plaintiff, NGM Insurance Company's Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket No. 30). For the reasons set forth below, that motion is granted , in part, and denied , in part.
On July 13, 2016, J. Mansfield filed a personal injury action in Worcester Superior Court against M. Pillsbury. Thereafter, the Estate filed a separate wrongful death claim in Worcester Superior Court.2 The complaints in both underlying matters allege that on August 3, 2013, a motorcycle operated by T. Mansfield, and carrying J. Mansfield, his wife, as a passenger, was travelling on Meadow Road in Spencer, Massachusetts when it collided with a motor vehicle (the "Ford Flex") operated by M. Pillsbury. The registered owner of the Ford Flex was M. Pillsbury's wife, J. Pillsbury. M. Pillsbury is a self-employed sign installer and drives a 2012 Nissan which is insured by him under a policy issued by NGM.
M. Pillsbury told officers that he was driving the Ford Flex and that he had just left a wedding at Zukas Hilltop Barn in Spencer, Massachusetts. There were approximately one hundred people at the wedding. Of that number. he knew "five or six." M. Pillsbury had never done any business with those five or six people and had never had any professional or business relationship with the bride or groom. Moreover, he did not see anyone at the wedding that he interacted with through the course of any prior employment. M. Pillsbury stated that he would not have attended the wedding without his wife and he was not operating the Ford Flex in connection with his business or employment.
At the time of the accident, both M. Pillsbury and J. Pillsbury were living at 1 Frankie Lane, North Grafton, Massachusetts. M. Pillsbury never rented or leased the Ford Flex from his wife, never hired the vehicle to do any work for his company and had no recollection of J. Pillsbury ever using her Ford Flex to run any company errands. M. Pillsbury rarely used the Ford Flex, but when he did so, he would not use it for company business. M. Pillsbury's business never gave J. Pillsbury any money in exchange for the use of the Ford Flex.
NGM issued Policy No. M1T5266D, a commercial automobile policy, to M. Pillsbury, for the policy period February 13, 2013 to February 13, 2014 (the "Policy"). The Policy states that the terms "you" and "your" refer to the "Named Insured" shown in the Declarations, which in this case is "Marc Pillsbury." The Declarations page describes M. Pillsbury's business as "sign installation and repair," and states that the form of business is corporation. According to M. Pillsbury he was self-employed by Northern Exposure Sign and Graphics, which is a limited liability company.
The Policy contains the following relevant language:
The Policy further contains a Massachusetts Mandatory Endorsement, which provides in relevant part:
Summary Judgment is appropriate where, "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Carroll v. Xerox Corp. , 294 F.3d 231, 236 (1st Cir. 2002) (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c) ). "A genuine issue is one that could be resolved in favor of either party, and a material fact is one that has the potential of affecting the outcome of the case.’ " Sensing v. Outback Steakhouse of Florida, LLC , 575 F.3d 145, 152 (1st Cir. 2009) (quoting Calero-Cerezo v. U.S. Dep't. of Justice , 355 F.3d 6, 19 (1st Cir. 2004) ) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted).
The moving party bears the burden to demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact within the record. Sensing , 575 F.3d at 153. "Once the moving party has pointed to the absence of adequate evidence supporting the nonmoving party's case, the nonmoving party must come forward with facts that show a genuine issue for trial." Id. (citing Carroll , 294 F.3d at 236 ). These facts must not be merely allegations or denials of the moving party's pleadings. Id. Both "[c]onclusory allegations [and] improbable inferences" are insufficient to overcome summary judgment. Sensing , 575 F.3d at 153 (citing Carroll , 294 F. 3d at 236-37 (internal quotations omitted)). "The test is whether, as to each essential element, there is ‘sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party.’ " Sensing, 575 F.3d at 153 (citations omitted).
Massachusetts law provides that interpretation of an insurance policy is a question of law for the court. The court applies general rules of contract interpretation, and looks first to the actual policy language, which is " ‘given its plain and ordinary meaning.’ " Valley Forge Ins. Co. v. Field, 670 F.3d 93, 97 (1st Cir. 2012). Like all contracts, an insurance policy is to be construed according to the fair and reasonable meaning of its words. A " ‘coverage provision is generally entitled to liberal construction in favor of coverage, while an exclusion is subject to a narrow construction against the insurer.’ " A & W Maint., Inc. v. First Mercury Ins. Co. , 91 F. Supp. 3d 113, 126 (D. Mass. 2015) ( ). Accordingly, exclusionary clauses must be strictly construed against the insurer so as not to defeat any intended coverage or diminish the protection purchased by the insured. See Vappi & Co., 348 Mass. at 431-432, 204 N.E.2d at 276 (1965). Where "the relevant...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Zotbelle, Inc. v. Kryolan Corp.
... ... See Pollak v. Fed. Ins. Co. , No. 13-cv-12114-FDS, 2013 WL 6152335, at *4 (D. Mass. Nov. 21, 2013). Similarly, the Court concludes that this claim fails against Kryolan ... ...
-
Cont'l Cas. Co. v. Pa. Nat'l Mut. Cas. Ins. Co.
... ... &Sound vehicle because she never acquired possession, ... dominion, or control. Put differently, she did not ... take the car from Luckenbaugh because he never ... relinquished it to her. See NGM Ins. Co. v ... Pillsbury, 416 F.Supp.3d 57, 65 (D. Mass. 2019); ... Hanneman, 575 N.W.2d at 452. Rather, Luckenbaugh ... remained in the car, dictated its ultimate destination, and ... directed Marquet-Sandt to pull over. That Marquet-Sandt was ... sharing in the driving does not compel the contrary ... ...
-
Cont'l Cas. Co. v. Pa. Nat'l Mut. Cas. Ins. Co.
...control of the vehicle" and, thus, Kurry did not "borrow" Hanneman's car for her own use. Id. Similarly, in NGM Insurance Company v. Pillsbury, 416 F. Supp. 3d 57 (D. Mass. 2019), T. Mansfield, was driving home from a wedding in a car owned by his wife, J. Mansfield, while his wife was a pa......