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NAUTILUS INSURANCE COMPANY v. GC DEVELOPMENT LLC GC LLC GACS (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.2021-05-19No. No. 18-2076

Summary

Holding. The court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Nautilus Insurance Company, concluding that the defendants failed to demonstrate an "occurrence" under West Virginia law that would trigger the insurer's duty to defend or indemnify.

Nautilus Insurance Company sought a declaration that it had no duty to defend or indemnify several defendants in an underlying state court civil action. The defendants appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment to Nautilus, arguing that the district court incorrectly concluded their case did not involve an "occurrence" under the insurance policy. The appellate court reviewed the record and agreed with the district court's analysis, finding that no occurrence triggering coverage had been established under the policy terms.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether the underlying civil claims constituted an 'occurrence' under the insurance policy
  • Interpretation of insurance policy language under West Virginia law
  • Entitlement to summary judgment in an insurance coverage dispute

Procedural posture

The defendants appealed after the district court granted summary judgment to Nautilus on its declaratory judgment action seeking a determination that no coverage obligation existed.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

GC & P Development, LLC, GC & P Aggregates, LLC, GACS, L.P., and Kevin P. Coyne, Sr., appeal the district courts order granting summary judgment to Nautilus Insurance Company. Nautilus sought a declaratory judgment that it did not have a duty to defend or indemnify the Appellants related to a civil action filed in state court against them. The Appellants argue that the district court erred in determining that the claims alleged in the underlying complaint against them did not constitute an “occurrence” under West Virginia law. We affirm.

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“We review de novo a district courts grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment, construing all facts and reasonable inferences therefrom in favor of the nonmoving party.” Gen. Ins. Co. of America v. U.S. Fire Ins. Co., 886 F.3d 346, 353 (4th Cir. 2018). Summary judgment is appropriate “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). We will uphold the district courts grant of summary judgment unless we find that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party on the evidence presented. See Reyes v. Waples Mobile Home Park Ltd. Pship, 903 F.3d 415, 423 (4th Cir. 2018). “We also review de novo the district courts contract interpretation underlying its summary judgment ruling.” Young v. Equinor USA Onshore Props., Inc., 982 F.3d 201, 205-06 (4th Cir. 2020).

We have reviewed the record and conclude that the district court correctly determined that Nautilus was entitled to summary judgment, as there was not an “occurrence” triggering coverage under the subject policy. Based on this determination, the court properly found it unnecessary to address the scope of the policys coverage exclusions. Accordingly, we affirm for the reasons stated by the district court. Nautilus Ins. Co. v. GC & P Dev., LLC, No. 5:17-cv-00060-IMK, 2018 WL 4088779 (N.D.W. Va. Aug. 27, 2018). We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

FOOTNOTES

FOOTNOTE

.   Although not raised in the district court, we noted a potential defect in the declaratory judgment proceedings concerning subject matter jurisdiction. We directed the parties to file supplemental memoranda addressing subject matter jurisdiction and are now satisfied that the parties adequately established diversity jurisdiction.

PER CURIAM:

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.