Augustine Forkwar v. Empire Fire and Marine Insuran

Filing

UNPUBLISHED AUTHORED OPINION filed. Originating case number: 8:09-cv-01543-WGC. Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [998884047].. [10-2160]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 10-2160

AUGUSTINE F. FORKWAR,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
EMPIRE FIRE AND MARINE INSURANCE COMPANY,
Defendant - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Greenbelt.
William Connelly, Magistrate Judge.
(8:09-cv-01543-WGC)

Argued:

May 16, 2012

Decided:

June 27, 2012

Before WILKINSON, GREGORY, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished opinion.
Judge Gregory wrote
opinion, in which Judge Wilkinson and Judge Floyd joined.

the

ARGUED: Michael S. Blumenthal, BLUMENTHAL & ASSOCIATES, LLC,
Landover, Maryland, for Appellant. Joseph Wolf, GOODELL DEVRIES
LEECH & DANN, LLP, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee. ON BRIEF:
Linda S. Woolf, GOODELL DEVRIES LEECH & DANN, LLP, Baltimore,
Maryland, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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GREGORY, Circuit Judge:
This

case

involves

a

dispute

over

whether

Appellee,

an

insurance company, is obligated under the terms of an insurance
contract to pay Appellant for injuries he suffered in a car
accident.
summary

The

district

judgment,

court

finding

granted

there

was

Appellee’s

motion

no

such

obligation.

for

J&J

Logistics,

for
We

affirm.

I.
Hameed

Mahdi

was

a

contractor

working under an independent contractor agreement.

Inc.,

Mahdi leased

his tractor to J&J, and J&J paid Mahdi for its exclusive use of
the

tractor.

Pursuant

to

the

contract,

Mahdi

called

J&J’s

office each morning to see if J&J had a job for him to do.

On

November 25, 2004, Mahdi called J&J and was instructed to pick
up a load at the Giant Food warehouse in Jessup, Maryland at
midnight on November 26.
the

26th

Commerce

and

began

Commission

to

Mahdi left his home late at night on
drive

(“I.C.C.”)

to

Jessup.

numbers

Logistics” were on his tractor.

and

J&J’s
the

Interstate
name

“J&J

On the way to Jessup, Mahdi

decided to stop to grab something to eat, but before he could
exit the highway he was involved in an accident with Appellant
Augustine Forkwar.

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Mahdi had been issued a commercial auto insurance policy
(“the

Policy”)

by

Company (“Empire”).

Appellee

Empire

Fire

&

“business

use”

Insurance

After receiving notice of the accident,

Empire conducted a routine investigation.
the

Marine

exception

to

the

It determined that

Policy

applied

and

that

Empire was therefore under no obligation to defend or indemnify
Mahdi for the accident.

The business use exception provides:

This Insurance does not apply to any of the following . . .
14. BUSINESS USE
“Bodily injury” or “property damage” while a
covered “auto” is used to carry people or
property in any business or while a covered
“auto” is used in the business of anyone to whom
the “auto” is leased or rented.
J.A. 134, 138.
In October of 2006, Forkwar filed suit (“the underlying
action”) against both Mahdi and J&J seeking $500,000 in damages.
The

lawsuit

alleged

that

Mahdi

negligently

caused

injury

to

Forkwar in connection with the accident and that J&J was liable
under

the

doctrine

of

respondeat

superior.

Based

on

its

investigation and interpretation of the business use exception,
Empire declined to defend Mahdi.

At trial, Forkwar made no

effort to affirmatively demonstrate that J&J was liable. 1
1

In his

While Appellant never explains his strategy, it appears
that he brought suit against J&J solely to have a verdict
entered in J&J’s favor on the respondeat superior claim, which
he believes collaterally estops Empire from asserting the
(Continued)
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opening statement, Forkwar’s attorney told the jury that the
judge “will take care of J&J, and I expect that they will be
walking out of the courtroom.”

He said he would “attempt to

show ironically that J&J didn’t have anything to do with Mr.
Mahdi.”

And when J&J made a mid-trial motion for judgment as a

matter of law, Forkwar did not oppose the motion.
failed to show up to the trial.
was

negligent

in

the

Mahdi also

The jury later found that Mahdi

operation

of

his

vehicle

and

awarded

state

court,

Forkwar $180,756.67.
After

securing

judgment

against

Mahdi

in

Forkwar filed this action in the Circuit Court of Maryland for
Prince George’s County.

Empire removed the case to the U.S.

District Court for the District of Maryland, and the parties
filed cross-motions for summary judgment.

The district court

denied Forkwar’s motion for summary judgment, granted Empire’s
cross-motion for summary judgment, and denied Forkwar’s counter
motion for summary judgment.

This timely appeal followed.

II.
Forkwar makes two arguments on appeal.

She first contends

that the district court erroneously determined that Empire was

business use
disagree.

exception.

For

the

4

reasons

given

below,

we

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not

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collaterally

estopped

by

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the

judgment

in

the

underlying

action from arguing that the business use exception applies.
Second, she argues on the merits that the business use exception
does not bar coverage.

We reject both of these arguments.

This Court reviews the grant or denial of summary judgment
de novo.

Overstreet v. Kentucky Life Ins. Co., 950 F.2d 931,

938 (4th Cir. 1991).
pleadings,

Summary judgment is appropriate “if the

depositions,

answers

to

interrogatories,

and

admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show
that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that
the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.”
FED. R. CIV. P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324
(1986).

The Court must construe the facts in the light most

favorable to the non-moving party.

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby,

Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986).

In diversity cases, federal

courts

of

apply

the

substantive

action was brought.
78 (1938).

law

the

state

in

which

the

Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64,

Here, Maryland substantive law governs.
A.

Appellant argues that the district court erred in failing
to find the Appellee was collaterally estopped from claiming
that the business use exception applies.

Under Maryland law, a

party seeking to invoke collateral estoppel must satisfy a fourpart test:
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1. Was the issue decided in the prior adjudication
identical with the one presented in the action in
question?
2. Was there a final judgment on the merits?
3. Was the party against whom the plea is asserted a
party or in privity with a party to the prior
adjudication?
4. Was the party against whom the plea is asserted
given a fair opportunity to be heard on the issue?
Colandrea v. Wilde Lake Cmty. Ass’n, 761 A.2d 899, 909 (Md.
2000) (citations omitted).
Appellant cannot meet her burden because the issue in the
underlying action is not identical to the one presented by this
case.
permits

Under Maryland law, the doctrine of respondeat superior
“an

employer

to

be

held

vicariously

liable

for

the

tortious conduct of its employee when that employee was acting
within

the

scope

of

the

employment

relationship.”

Connors, 660 A.2d 423, 426 (Md. 1995).

Oaks

v.

But because “a strict

application of the doctrine . . . in the modern commercial world
would result in great injustice,” Maryland law holds
that a master will not be held responsible for negligent
operation of a servant’s automobile, even though engaged
at the time in furthering the master’s business, unless
the master expressly or impliedly consented to the use of
the automobile, and had the right to control the servant
in its operation, or else the use of the automobile was
of such vital importance in furthering the master’s
business that his control over it might reasonably be
inferred.
Gallagher’s

Estate

(emphasis omitted).

v.

Battle,

122

A.2d

93,

97

(Md.

1956)

As a result, there are four elements to

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establish respondeat superior in Maryland: (1) the existence of
an employer-employee relationship 2; (2) the tortious act must
have occurred “within the scope of the employment relationship”;
(3) the employer consented, explicitly or implicity, to the use
of the automobile; and (4) the employer had the right to control
the employee in the operation of the automobile or the use of
the automobile was vitally important in furthering the master’s
business.
In contrast, the business use exception applies whenever “a
covered

‘auto’

is

used

to

carry

people

or

property

in

any

business or while a covered ‘auto’ is used in the business of
anyone to whom the ‘auto’ is leased or rented.”

Plainly, the

respondeat superior doctrine and the business use exception are
not identical issues.

While respondeat superior requires the

existence of an employer-employee relationship, the business use
exception has no such element.
who

was

acting

“in

the

Thus, an individual like Forkwar

business

of”

J&J

but

who

is

an

independent contractor rather than employee would be subject to
the Policy’s exclusion without falling under the doctrine of
respondeat superior.
2

Maryland courts resolve this question by asking whether
the employer had the right “to control and direct the employee
in the performance of the work and in the manner in which the
work is to be done.” B.P. Oil Corp. v. Mabe, 370 A.2d 554 (Md.
1977).

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While the Appellant never makes this argument in her brief,
she could have relied on some of the Court of Special Appeals of
Maryland’s language in Empire Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. Liberty
Mutual Ins. Co, 699 A.2d 482 (Md. Ct. Sp. App. 1997).

There, in

construing Empire Fire’s business use exception, the court said
that

it

“follow

guidance

from

sought

would

respondeat

the
the

superior.”

application

of

the

course

of

analogous

Id.

at

courts

common

495.

business

This

use

superior are identical issues.

other

law

that

doctrine

suggests

exception

have

and

that

of
the

respondeat

It is true that the requirement

in the business use exception that bodily injury occur while an
auto “is used in the business of anyone” is quite similar to the
second element for respondeat superior, that the accident occur
“within the scope of the employment.”

However, that is not to

say that all of the elements are identical.

Respondeat superior

requires that there be an employer-employee relationship, and
Maryland

--

like

other

states

--

recognizes

a

distinction

between an employee and an independent contractor.

See, e.g.,

Greer Lines Co. v. Roberts, 139 A.2d 235 (Md. 1958) (“Whether
the relation of the parties is that of master and servant, or
employer

and

. . . .”).
exception

independent
In

contractor,

contrast,

suggests

there

no

depends

language
must

be

in
an

upon

the

the

business

facts
use

employer-employee

relationship; it requires only that the accident occur while the
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auto is used in someone’s business.

Thus at best Appellant has

proven that one of the four elements of respondeat superior are
met, but cannot establish the remaining three.

We therefore

reject Appellant’s collateral estoppel claim.
B.
Appellant goes on to argue that the district court erred in
finding

that

the

business

underlying action.

use

exception

applies

to

the

Maryland law construes insurance policies

like any other contract.

E.g., N. River Ins. Co. v. Mayor &

City Council of Balt., 680 A.2d 480 (Md. 1996).

“The first

principle of construction of insurance policies in Maryland is
to apply the terms of the contract” to determine the scope and
limitations of coverage.

Mutual Fire, Marine & Inland Ins. v.

Vollmer, 508 A.2d 130, 133 (Md. 1986).
as

a

whole,

provision.
1995).

without

emphasis

on

any

particular

Sullins v. Allstate Ins. Co., 667 A.2d 617 (Md.

Finally,

“ordinarily

putting

The policy is reviewed

and

when

usually

examining

the

accepted”

policy’s

meaning

language,

should

be

the

applied,

Aragona v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 378 A.2d 1346 (Md.
1977), unless the parties intended to use the word “in a special
or technical sense.”

Cheney v. Bell Nat’l Life Ins. Co., 556

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A.2d 1135, 1138 (Md. 1989). 3

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Unlike most states, Maryland does

not apply the rule that insurance policies are construed against
the insurer.

Empire Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. Liberty Mutual

Ins. Co., 699 A.2d 482, 494 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 1997).
In
Court

Empire

of

Fire

Appeals

v.

Liberty

considered

Mutual,

the

same

under an analogous fact pattern.
Perry,

was

contracted

the
out

owner
to

a

and

language

of

company,

I.C.C. license was in O.S.T.’s name.

Maryland
at

Special

issue

here

There the plaintiff, James

operator

shipping

the

a

tractor

O.S.T.;

the

Id. at 486.

that

was

tractor’s

O.S.T. also

had a similar method of assigning work: Perry contacted O.S.T.
daily to obtain his next assignment.

Id. at 487.

The timing of

the accident, however, is different: Perry had completed his
dispatch on January 16, dropped his tractor off at a service
station that day, and returned four days later to pick it up.
Id.

On his way home from the service station, he was involved

in an accident.

Id.

The Maryland court found that the business

use exception did not apply, noting that Perry was driving to
his

home,

not

receiving

any

compensation

3

from

O.S.T.,

not

The Maryland courts have determined that this contractual
language is not ambiguous. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co., 699 A.2d at
494 (“No ambiguity is present in Empire’s business use exception
clause.”).

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operating under a bill of lading, not under dispatch, and not
hauling a load at the time of the accident.

Id. at 487-88.

Appellant suggests that Liberty Mutual is dispositive.
disagree.
Liberty

We

While most of the facts parallel the instant case, in

Mutual

the

accident

occurred

several

days

after

the

completion of Perry’s last dispatch, while he was driving home.
Here, in contrast, Mahdi was under dispatch -- a fact expressly
noted in Liberty Mutual.

Id.

There is unfortunately very little additional case law on
the applicability of the business use exception.

However, the

decisions of other circuits provide guidance that Maryland law
considers persuasive in interpreting its own law.

See Stanley

v. Am. Motorists Ins. Co., 73 A.2d 1 (Md. 1950) (“[P]arties who
adopt an insurance policy, which apparently has had nationwide
use . . . adopt with it the uniform judicial construction that
it has received in other states.”).
Circuits,

in

considering

Both the Seventh and Fifth

similarly

worded

business

use

exceptions, have held that the purpose of the exclusions is to
retract coverage for “occasion[s] when the truck is being used
to further the commercial interest of the lessee.”

Hartford

Ins. Co. v. Occidental Fire & Cas. Co., 809 F.2d 235, 239 (7th
Cir. 1990) (emphasis added); see also Mahaffey v. Gen. Sec. Ins.
Co., 543 F.3d 738 (5th Cir. 2008); Empire Fire & Marine Ins. Co.
v. Brantley Trucking, Inc., 220 F.3d 679 (5th Cir. 2000).
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this interpretation, the question is whether Mahdi’s conduct at
the time of the accident “furthered the commercial interest” of
J&J.
In applying the furthering-the-interests test to this case,
we

find

that

exception.

Mahdi’s

conduct

fell

under

the

business

use

The accident occurred while Mahdi was on his way to

pick up a load for J&J; his driving to Jessup was a necessary
step in completing his work.
was

not

“pursuing

leisurely

frolic [or] detour.”

As the district court noted, Mahdi
engagement

nor

engaged

in

some

Rather, he had received instructions from

J&J to go to Jessup to pick up a load and was in the process of
completing that task.

Although Mahdi had decided just before

the accident to stop for a meal before making his way to the
warehouse,

he

was

operating

his

vehicle

at

the

time

of

the

accident solely for the purpose of furthering J&J’s commercial
interests.

We therefore find that the business use exception

applies and bars coverage.

III.
For the reasons given above, we affirm the district court.

AFFIRMED

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