IFCO Systems North America v. American Home Assurance Compan

Filing

AMENDING ORDER/OPINION filed [999015692] amending and superseding. Originating case number: 1:09-cv-02874-WMN Copies to all parties. Mailed to: Theresa Barnes 244 Washington Street Room 572, State Office Annex Building Atlanta, Georgia 30334. [11-2328]

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FILED:

January 4, 2013

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
________________
No. 11-2328
________________
IFCO SYSTEMS NORTH AMERICA, Inc., a Delaware Corporation,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
AMERICAN HOME ASSURANCE COMPANY, A subsidiary of American
International Group, Inc. (AIG); a New York Corporation,
Defendant – Appellee.

O R D E R

The Court amends its order filed January 3, 2013, as
follows:
On page 3, line 3 of text – the word "Right" is
replaced with the word "Rite."
For the Court – By Direction

/s/ Patricia S. Connor
Clerk

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 11-2328

IFCO SYSTEMS NORTH AMERICA, Inc., a Delaware Corporation,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
AMERICAN HOME ASSURANCE COMPANY, A subsidiary of American
International Group, Inc. (AIG); a New York Corporation,
Defendant – Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Baltimore.
William M. Nickerson, Senior District
Judge. (1:09-cv-02874-WMN)
Submitted:

November 27, 2012

Decided:

January 3, 2013

Before TRAXLER, Chief Judge, FLOYD, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.
Unpublished Order of Certification to the Supreme Court of
Georgia. Judge Thacker directed the entry of the order with the
concurrences of Chief Judge Traxler and Judge Floyd.
Joseph
F.
Cunningham,
Joshua
M.
Hoffman,
CUNNINGHAM
&
ASSOCIATES, PLC, Arlington, Virginia; Eric L. Routman, LAW
OFFICES OF ERIC L. ROUTMAN, Northbrook, Illinois, for Appellant.
Paul Smolinsky, JACKSON & CAMPBELL, PC, Washington, D.C., for
Appellee.

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ORDER
Appellant

IFCO

Systems

North

America

(“IFCO”)

challenges the district court’s grant of summary judgment to
Appellee American Home Assurance Company (“American Home”) and
the district court’s subsequent denial of IFCO’s motion to alter
or amend judgment.
appeal

hinges

on

a

Because the determinative issue in this
novel

question

of

Georgia

state

law,

we

certify the following question to the Supreme Court of Georgia:
In a negligent hiring and supervision action against
an insured-employer, does the intentional conduct of
an employee of the insured constitute a covered
“occurrence” where the governing insurance policy
covers the employer and its employees, defines an
“occurrence”
as
an
“accident,”
and
contains
a
“separation
of
insureds”
clause
providing
that
coverage applies “to each named insured as though it
was the only named insured”?

I.
A.
IFCO provides inventory and pallet management services
to retail customers.

Given the nature of its business, IFCO’s

employees are sometimes required to enter the property of IFCO
customers.

This case emerges from a dispute in which an IFCO

customer, Rite Aid Pharmacy of Maryland (“Rite Aid”), alleged

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that IFCO employees stole approximately $1.6 million worth of
goods from a Rite Aid warehouse.
Rite

Aid first sought to

recover the value of the

allegedly stolen property directly from IFCO in October 2008.
Soon thereafter, IFCO notified its insurer, American Home, of
this

claim

and

requested

coverage in May 2009.

coverage.

American

Home

denied

Rite Aid ultimately filed suit against

IFCO in May 2010 (“the underlying lawsuit”).

In the underlying

lawsuit, Rite Aid asserted the following causes of action: (1)
negligent

hiring,

training,

supervision,

and

retention;

(2)

contract indemnification; (3) trover and conversion; (4) common
law indemnification; (5) negligence; and (6) breach of contract.
All of these causes of action are predicated on the alleged
theft by IFCO’s employees.1
In response, IFCO filed the present lawsuit against
American

Home

in

October

2009

seeking

a

declaration

American Home had a duty to defend and indemnify IFCO.
December

2010,

American

Home

filed

a

motion

for

that
In

summary

judgment, arguing that it had neither a duty to defend nor
indemnify

IFCO

under

Georgia

law.

American

Home’s

primary

contention was that the alleged thefts by IFCO’s employees were

1

IFCO and Rite Aid eventually settled
lawsuit with no contribution from American Home.

3

the

underlying

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intentional
covered

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acts

and,

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accordingly,

“accident.”

The

could

district

not

court

American Home’s motion on June 23, 2011.

constitute

agreed,

a

granting

IFCO then filed a

motion to alter or amend judgment pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P.
59(e), which the district court denied on November 4, 2011.
IFCO then timely filed this appeal on December 2, 2011.

B.
The insurance policy at issue here is a commercial
general liability policy issued to IFCO by American Home (“the
Policy”).

The Policy provides, in pertinent part, that American

Home

“pay

must

those

sums

that

the

insured

becomes

legally

obligated to pay as damages because of . . . ‘property damage’
to which this insurance applies.”

J.A. 165.2

The insurance

applies to all property damage caused by an “occurrence.”

Id.

An occurrence, in turn, is defined as “an accident, including
continuous

or

repeated

general conditions.”
clause

under

the

exposure

J.A. 177.
heading

to

substantially

the

same

The Policy also contains a

“Separation

of

Insureds,”

which

provides:
Except with respect to the Limits of Insurance, and
any rights or duties specifically assigned in this
2

Citations to the “J.A.” refer to the Joint Appendix filed
by the parties in this appeal.

4

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Coverage Part to the first Named Insured, this
insurance applies: (a) As if each Named Insured were
the only Named Insured; and (b) Separately to each
insured against whom claim is made or “suit” is
brought.
J.A. 175.

C.
Georgia law governs this dispute.
“whether

an

insurer

has

a

duty

to

Under Georgia law,

defend

depends

upon

the

language of the policy as compared with the allegations of the
complaint.”

Hoover v. Maxum Indem. Co., 730 S.E.2d 413, 418

(Ga. June 18, 2012).

An insurer will only be relieved of the

duty

the

to

defend

unambiguously
policy.

when

excluded

allegations

from

coverage

of

the

under

complaint
the

are

applicable

See JNJ Found. Specialists, Inc. v. D.R. Horton, Inc.,

717 S.E.2d 219, 223 (Ga. 2011).

Because the existence of a duty

to defend is determined on the basis of the allegations in the
complaint, “the issue is not whether the insured is actually
liable to the plaintiffs in the underlying action; the issue is
whether a claim has been asserted which falls within the policy
coverage

and

which

the

insurer

has

a

duty

to

defend.”

Bituminous Cas. Corp. v. N. Ins. Co. of New York, 548 S.E.2d
495, 497 (Ga. 2001) (quoting Penn-America Ins. Co. v. Disabled
American

Veterans,

481

S.E.2d

850,

(emphasis in original)).
5

852

(Ga.

App.

Ct.

1997)

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Further, where a complaint alleges multiple claims, an
insurer’s

obligation

to

defend

one

claim

in

the

triggers an obligation to defend the remaining claims.

complaint
See HDI-

Gerling America Ins. Co. v. Morrison Homes, Inc., --- F.3d ----,
2012 WL 5834882, *3 (11th Cir. 2012) (applying Georgia law); see
also City of Atlanta v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 498
S.E.2d 782, 784 (Ga. App. Ct. 1998) (citing Great Am. Ins. Co.
v. McKemie, 259 S.E.2d 39 (Ga. 1979)) (“[W]here the complaint
filed against the insured does not assert any claims upon which
there would be insurance coverage, the insurer is justified in
refusing to defend the insured's lawsuit.”) (emphasis added).

D.
In

its

order

granting

American

Home’s

motion

for

summary judgment, the district court held that American Home did
not

have

driving

a
the

duty

to

defend

underlying

because

lawsuit

the

were

intentional conduct of IFCO’s employees.

factual

all

allegations

premised

on

the

Accordingly, the court

held there was no set of facts under which the alleged conduct
could constitute an “accident.”

See IFCO Sys. N. Am., Inc. v.

Am. Home Assur. Co., 797 F. Supp. 2d 660, 668 (D. Md. 2011).
In support of this holding, the district court cited
several cases from the Georgia Court of Appeals.

The district

court was of the view that these cases stand for the proposition
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that

an

covered

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employee’s
“accident”

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intentional
even

if

conduct

the

may

employer

intend the employee’s tortious conduct.

not

did

constitute

not

foresee

a
or

IFCO, 797 F. Supp. 2d

at 664-65 (citing O’Dell v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 478
S.E.2d 418 (Ga. Ct. App. 1996) (insurer did not have a duty to
defend an insured corporation against sexual harassment claims
brought

against

the

corporation

based

on

the

conduct

of

corporation employees); Presidential Hotel v. Canal Ins. Co.,
373 S.E.2d 671 (Ga. Ct. App. 1988) (same)).3
Subsequently, in its order denying IFCO’s motion to
alter/amend

judgment,

the

district

court

rejected

IFCO’s

argument that American Empire Surplus Lines Insurance Company v.
Hathaway Development Company, Inc., 707 S.E.2d 369 (Ga. 2011)
(“Hathaway”) stands for the proposition that intentional acts
may be deemed “accidents” for purposes of determining coverage
by

a

commercial

IFCO,

797

F.

general

Supp.

2d

liability
at

669-70.

3

policy
In

under

Georgia

Hathaway,

a

law.

general

In so holding, the district court distinguished Crook v.
Georgia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance., 428 S.E.2d 802 (Ga. Ct.
App. 1993). There, the court held that an insurer had a duty to
defend an action against insured homeowners brought by the
parents of a young boy who committed suicide in the insured’s
home.
The district court found this case inapposite because,
unlike O’Dell and Presidential Hotel, “[t]here is no theory of
law under which the Crook plaintiff’s son’s actions could be
imputed to the defendant homeowner.”
IFCO, 797 F. Supp. 2d at
665.

7

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contractor,
recover

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Hathaway

damages

workmanship.

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Development

from

a

plumber

Corp.
for

(“HDC”),
the

sought

plumber’s

to

faulty

When default judgment was entered for HDC, HDC

sought to recover from the plumber’s insurer.
As here, the policy at issue in Hathaway covered only
property

damage

Likewise,

the

Hathaway policy also defined “occurrences” as “accidents.”

In

that case,

the

arising

from

“occurrences.”

insurer argued that, because the plumber had

performed the allegedly faulty work intentionally, the insured’s
conduct could not be deemed “accidental.”
Georgia

rejected

this

argument,

The Supreme Court of

noting,

“a

deliberate

act,

performed negligently, is an accident if the effect is not the
intended or expected result; that is, the result would have been
different

had

the

deliberate

Hathaway,

707

S.E.2d

at

act

372

been

(quoting

performed
Lamar

correctly.”

Homes

v.

Mid-

Continent Cas. Co., 242 S.W.3d 1, 16 (Tex. 2007)).
Here,

the

district

court

distinguished

Hathaway,

noting “the ‘intentional’ acts in Hathaway refer to negligent
acts deliberately done, as opposed to intentional tortious acts
. . . .”

IFCO, 797 F. Supp. 2d. at 670.

Thus, the district

court concluded, “Hathaway is properly limited to the context of
deliberate acts that result in faulty workmanship.”

8

Id.

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II.
A.
It is appropriate for this court to certify a question
of state law to the state’s highest tribunal “when [we are]
required

to

address

a

novel

issue

of

determinative in the case before [us].”

local

law

which

is

Grattan v. Bd. of Sch.

Commissioners of Baltimore City, 805 F.2d 1160, 1164 (4th Cir.
1986) (citing Lehman Bros. v. Schein, 416 U.S. 386 (1974)).
Because this case is governed by Georgia law, we must
look to the applicable Georgia statutes to determine how to
proceed.

The Supreme Court of Georgia is authorized to receive

certified

questions

Georgia § 15-2-9(a).

from

federal

courts

pursuant

to

Code

of

That statute provides:

The Supreme Court of this state, by rule of court, may
provide that when it shall appear to the Supreme Court
of the United States, to any circuit court of appeals
or district court of the United States, or to the
Court of Appeals or the District Court of the District
of Columbia that there are involved in any proceeding
before it questions of the laws of this state which
are determinative of the case and there are no clear
controlling precedents in the decisions of the Supreme
Court of this state, such federal court may certify
the questions of the laws of this state to the Supreme
Court of this state for answers to the questions of
state law, which certificate the Supreme Court of this
state may answer by written opinion.4
4

In accordance with this statute, Supreme Court of
Georgia Rule 46 provides:
When it shall appear to the Supreme Court of the
United States, or to any District Court or Circuit
(Continued)
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B.
Here,

there

is

no

clear

Georgia appellate decisions.

controlling

precedent

from

Accordingly, certification to the

Supreme Court of Georgia is proper.
First, we have found no controlling authority from the
Supreme Court of Georgia

on this

contends Hathaway is on point.
properly

noted

that

the

faulty workmanship cases.

particular

It is not.

holding

in

question.

IFCO

The district court

Hathaway

is

confined

to

See also Capital City Ins. Co., Inc.

v. Forks Timber Co., Inc., No. CV 511-039, 2012 WL 3757555 (S.D.
Ga. Aug. 28, 2012) (“Without some indication to the contrary—
either in the text of Hathaway or from the Georgia courts—this
Court reads Hathaway as limited to faulty workmanship cases.”).
Hathaway

considered

deliberately

performed

whether

defective

constitutes

substantially similar insurance policy.

an

construction
“accident”

under

a

This is a fundamentally

different question than the one posed here, which

requires a

Court of Appeals of the United States, or to any state
appellate court, that there are involved in any
proceeding before it questions or propositions of the
laws of this State which are determinative of said
cause and there are no clear controlling precedents in
the appellate court decisions of this State, such
court may certify such questions or propositions of
the laws of Georgia to this Court for instructions.
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work

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determination of whether the intentionally tortious conduct of
an insured’s employees constitutes a covered “accident.”
Second, none of the intermediate appellate court cases
cited by the district court are directly on point.

While each

case involved a coverage dispute, none of the cases involved a
situation where the court was asked to determine whether an
employee’s intentional conduct can be treated as an “accident”
in a subsequent negligence action against the employer.

See

IFCO, 797 F. Supp. 2d at 664-65.
Moreover,

the

cases

cited

below

are

inapposite

inasmuch as none of them dealt with a separation of insured’s
clause.

This is significant as this provision may require us to

approach

the

perspective.

question

of

coverage

solely

from

IFCO’s

Given this approach, we may conclude the thefts

were “accidents” because IFCO neither intended nor reasonably
could

have

foreseen

that

its

intentionally tortious conduct.5

5

employees

would

engage

in

See Hathaway, 707 S.E.2d at 371

American Home contends we should not consider the
separation of insureds argument because it was not raised until
IFCO’s Rule 59(e) motion.
This is inaccurate, as IFCO raised
this argument in response to American Home’s motion for summary
judgment.
Moreover, even if IFCO had not previously made this
specific argument, we could properly consider it because the
issue of whether coverage exists under the Policy is properly
before this court.
See Kamen v. Kemper Fin. Servs., 500 U.S.
90, 99 (1991) (“When an issue or claim is properly before the
court, the court is not limited to the particular legal theories
advanced by the parties, but rather retains the independent
(Continued)
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(“Although the policy does not define ‘accident,’ under Georgia
law, that term means an event which takes place without one's
foresight or expectation or design.”) (citations omitted).
Third, even if we were to conclude that
cited

below

Specifically,

are

on

point,

Presidential

they

Hotel

reach

and

the cases

different

O’Dell

both

results.

found

that

there was no coverage for the underlying intentional conduct
while Crook reached the opposite conclusion.6
Accordingly, a question must be certified.

III.
Pursuant to Code of Georgia § 15-2-9(a) and Supreme
Court of Georgia Rule 46, we hereby ORDER that: (1) the question
stated above be certified to the Supreme Court of Georgia for
answer; (2) the Clerk of this Court forward to the Supreme Court
of Georgia, under the seal of this Court, a copy of this ORDER,
together with the original copies of the record before this
Court to the extent requested by the Supreme Court of Georgia;

power to identify and apply the proper construction of governing
law.”)
6

This divergence caused the Eleventh Circuit to remark,
“there
is
some
difficulty
in
reconciling
the
different
approaches taken in Crook and Presidential Hotel.”
SCI
Liquidating Corp. v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co., 181 F.3d 1210,
1216-17 (11th Cir. 1999) (applying Georgia law).

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and (3) the Clerk of this Court fulfill any request for all or
part of the record simply upon notification from the Clerk of
Court of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
In certifying the above question, we note that our
phrasing

should

not

restrict

consideration of this issue.

the

Supreme

Court

of

Georgia’s

As the Eleventh Circuit recently

reiterated when certifying a similar question to the Supreme
Court of Georgia:
[T]he particular phrasing used in the certified
question is not to restrict the Supreme Court’s
consideration of the problems involved and the issues
as the Supreme Court perceives them to be in its
analysis of the record certified in this case.
The
latitude extends to the Supreme Court’s restatement of
the issue or issues and the manner in which the
answers are given, whether as a comprehensive whole or
in subordinate or even contingent parts.
HDI-Gerling, 2012 WL 5834882, at *6 (quoting Swire Pac.
Holdings v. Zurich Ins. Co., 284 F.3d 1228, 1234 (11th Cir.
2002)).

QUESTION CERTIFIED

13