Stephens v.
| Decision Date | 10 August 2015 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION NO.: 1:13-cv-00244-GHD-DAS |
| Parties | LISA BEAM STEPHENS and PAMELA BEAM DRAKE, Wrongful Death Beneficiaries of Truman Edward Beam PLAINTIFFS v. PROGRESSIVE GULF INSURANCE COMPANY GARNISHEE v. HOLCOMB LOGGING, LLC; DARRYL HOLCOMB; JAMES HOLCOMB; and IC TRUCKING DEFENDANTS |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Mississippi |
Presently before this Court are a motion for summary judgment [72] filed by Garnishee Progressive Gulf Insurance Company and a motion for summary judgment [101] filed by Plaintiffs Lisa Beam Stephens and Pamela Beam Drake. Upon due consideration, the Court finds that Garnishee's motion for summary judgment [72] is well taken and shall be granted, and Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment [101] is not well taken and shall be denied.
Plaintiffs Lisa Beam Stephens and Pamela Beam Drake (collectively, "Plaintiffs"), wrongful death beneficiaries of the Decedent, Truman Edward Beam ("Decedent"), filed suit in the Circuit Court of Itawamba County, Mississippi, against Defendants Darryl Holcomb; James Holcomb; Holcomb Logging, LLC; and IC Trucking (collectively, "Defendants"), alleging that while working as a truck driver for Defendants, Decedent was standing outside a vehicle whenhe was struck and killed by a loaded log truck operated by Defendant James Holcomb, and that Decedent's cause of death "was the wrongful or negligen[t] act or omission of Defendants or by such unsafe machinery owned and operated by Defendants or the failure of Defendants to keep their vehicle under control, failure to maintain a proper lookout for the path of their vehicle, and failure to yield to a pedestrian." Pls.' Am. Compl., State-Ct. R. [26-25] ¶¶ 6-7. After Plaintiffs filed an uncontested motion for summary judgment, the state court granted the motion, finding that "[Decedent] died as a result of injuries sustained, which were proximately caused by the impact of a log truck and trailer owned and operated by the Defendants and their agents/employees, and that the death of [Decedent] was proximately caused by the negligence and wrongful actions of the aforesaid Defendants." State-Ct.'s Order Granting Pls.' Am. Mot. Summ. J., State-Ct. R. [26-20] at 1. After a hearing was held to determine damages, the state court entered a judgment in favor of Plaintiffs against Defendants in the amount of $920,034.00 plus court costs in the amount of $120.00 and post-judgment interest at the legal rate of 8% per annum. No appeal was taken from the judgment.
Subsequently, Plaintiffs made a proper suggestion for writ of garnishment against Defendants and/or Progressive Gulf Insurance Company ("Garnishee" or "Progressive"). Garnishee had not been a party to, nor did it participate in, the state-court proceeding. The writ of garnishment was issued by the Circuit Clerk of Itawamba County, Mississippi, and was served on Garnishee. Garnishee filed its notice of removal within thirty days of receipt of the writ of garnishment, removing the garnishment proceeding to this Court and filing its own separate declaratory judgment action. Garnishee maintains that no insurance coverage exists under Garnishee's policy for the subject incident. Plaintiffs filed a counterclaim asserting fraud as basis of recovery and an amended counter-complaint.
Subsequently, Garnishee filed a motion for summary judgment [72], attacking the jurisdictional basis of the underlying state-court judgment and the merits of the garnishment action. Plaintiffs filed their own motion for summary judgment [101] in response, presenting several arguments in support of liability coverage for the subject incident. On April 17, 2015, this Court entered an Order [124] and memorandum opinion [125] granting Garnishee's motion for summary judgment insofar as declaring the state-court judgment void as to Defendants Darryl Holcomb, James Holcomb, and IC Trucking; dismissing Defendants Darryl Holcomb, James Holcomb, and IC Trucking as parties to the action; and denying Garnishee's motion for summary judgment insofar as declaring the state-court judgment valid and entitled to full faith and credit as to Defendant Holcomb Logging, LLC. The reasoning in that memorandum opinion [125] is hereby incorporated into this opinion.
In that Order [124] and memorandum opinion [125], the Court also held in abeyance the sole issue remaining on summary judgment: whether the Progressive insurance policy, issued to Darryl Holcomb and IC Tracking, provides coverage as to the liability of Holcomb Logging, LLC for the subject incident. The Court gave the parties an opportunity to brief the same. Plaintiffs and Garnishee filed supplemental briefing; Defendant Holcomb Logging, LLC did not file supplemental briefing. Subsequently, the Court held an oral argument relative to the issue on July 27, 2015. Taking into account all of the foregoing, the Court is now ready to rule on the sole remaining issue on summary judgment.
Summary judgment "should be rendered if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477U.S. 317, 322, 106 S. Ct. 2548, 91 L. Ed. 2d 265 (1986). See FED. R. CIV. P. 56(a); Johnston & Johnston v. Conseco Life Ins. Co., 732 F.3d 555, 561 (5th Cir. 2013). The rule "mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a sufficient showing to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S. Ct. 2548.
The party moving for summary judgment bears the initial responsibility of informing the Court of the basis for its motion and identifying those portions of the record it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine dispute of material fact. See id. at 323, 106 S. Ct. 2548. Under Rule 56(a), the burden then shifts to the nonmovant to "go beyond the pleadings and by . . . affidavits, or by the 'depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file,' designate 'specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.' " Id. at 324, 106 S. Ct. 2548; Littlefield v. Forney Indep. Sch. Dist., 268 F.3d 275, 282 (5th Cir. 2001); Willis v. Roche Biomedical Labs., Inc., 61 F.3d 313, 315 (5th Cir. 1995).
It is axiomatic that in ruling on a motion for summary judgment "[t]he evidence of the nonmovant is to be believed, and all justifiable inferences are to be drawn in his favor." Tolan v. Cotton, — U.S. —, —, 134 S. Ct. 1861, 1863, 188 L. Ed. 2d 895 (2014) (per curiam) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S. Ct. 2505, 91 L. Ed. 2d 202 (1986)); see, e.g., Ard v. Rushing, 597 F. App'x 213, 217 (5th Cir. 2014) (per curiam) (). The Court " 'resolve[s] factual controversies in favor of the nonmoving party, but only where there is an actual controversy, that is, when both parties have submitted evidence ofcontradictory facts.' " Thomas v. Baldwin, 595 F. App'x 378, 378 (5th Cir. 2014) (per curiam) (quoting Antoine v. First Student, Inc., 713 F.3d 824, 830 (5th Cir. 2013) (quotation marks and citation omitted)). "[T]he nonmoving party cannot defeat summary judgment with conclusory allegations, unsubstantiated assertions, or only a scintilla of evidence.' " Id. (quoting Hathaway v. Bazany, 507 F.3d 312, 319 (5th Cir. 2007)).
"[A] 'judge's function' at summary judgment is not 'to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial.' " Cotton, 134 S. Ct. at 1866 (quoting Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S. Ct. 2505); see Stewart v. Guzman, 555 F. App'x 425, 430 (5th Cir. 2014) (per curiam) ().
As stated, the sole issue before the Court at this juncture is whether the Progressive insurance policy, issued to Darryl Holcomb and IC Trucking, provides coverage as to the liability of Holcomb Logging, LLC for the subject incident. If the Progressive policy in question provided coverage for Holcomb Logging, LLC for the incident in question, Garnishee would be liable to cover the extent of liability of Holcomb Logging, LLC up to the policy limits. However, as Garnishee correctly urges in its motion and briefs, that is not the situation in this case.
" 'The interpretation of an insurance policy is a question of law, not one of fact.' " Minn. Life Ins. Co. v. Columbia Cas. Co., 164 So. 3d 954, 967-68 (Miss. 2014) (quoting Noxubee Cnty. Sch. Dist. v. United Nat'l Ins. Co., 883 So. 2d 1159, 1165 (Miss. 2004) (quotation marks omitted)). An insurance policy is a contract between the insurer and the insured, with the rightsand duties set out by the provisions of the insurance policy; as such, an insurance policy is a contract subject to the general rules of contract interpretation. ACS Constr. Co. of Miss. v. CGU, 332 F.3d 885, 888 (5th Cir. 2003) (citing Clark v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 725 So. 2d 779, 781 (Miss. 1998)); Haney v. Cont'l Cas. Co., No. 3:08cv482-DPJ-JCS, 2010 WL 235025, at *2 (S.D. Miss. Jan. 15, 2010) (citing Sennett v. U.S. Fid. & Guar. Co., 757 So. 2d 206, 212 (Miss. 2000)); Miss. Ins. Guar. Ass'n v. Blakeney, 54 So. 3d 203, 205 (Miss. 2011). "Under Mississippi law, the construction of an insurance...
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