Beagle v. Schwaben, Unpublished Decision (1-28-2004)
Beagle v. Schwaben, Unpublished Decision (1-28-2004)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 3} At the time of the accident, Howard worked for Castle Care Lawn Service, a sole proprietorship owned by Kurt Morganstern. Castle Care Lawn Service had a commercial auto insurance policy with UM coverage through Erie. The applicant for the policy was "Kirt (sic) Morganstern dba Castle Care Lawn Service," and the application was signed by Kurt Morganstern. The declarations page of the policy listed the named insured as "Castle Care Lawn Service."
{¶ 4} The policy contained an UM endorsement, which extended UM coverage as follows:
"Our Promise
"We will pay damages for bodily injury that the law entitlesyou or your legal representative to recover from the owner of an uninsured motor vehicle * * *."
{¶ 5} Beagle filed a declaratory judgment action in the trial court against Erie seeking the determination of the amount of UM coverage available under the policy. Beagle argued that the Erie policy used the ambiguous word "you" to define the word "insured," and thus, all of Castle Care Lawn Service's employees were insureds, pursuant to Scott-Pontzer, under the UM coverage. Erie claimed that the word "you" was not ambiguous because the insured was not a corporation like inScott-Pontzer. Erie contended that the insured was just one individual, Kurt Morganstern dba Castle Care Lawn Service. Erie relied on Waters v. George (April 17, 2003), Athens App. No. 02CA36, 2003-Ohio-2093, where we held that there was noScott-Pontzer ambiguity in the use of the word "you" when the named insured was a sole proprietorship instead of a corporation. The trial court agreed with Erie and granted its motion for summary judgment.
{¶ 6} Beagle appeals and assigns the following assignment of error: "The trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Erie Insurance Company and in denying Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment. (Judgment Entry, July 7, 2003.)"
{¶ 8} Summary judgment is appropriate when the court finds that the following factors have been established: (1) there is no genuine issue as to any material fact; (2) the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law; and (3) reasonable minds can come to only one conclusion, and that conclusion is adverse to the nonmoving party, who is entitled to have the evidence construed in his or her favor. Civ.R. 56. See Bostic v. Connor
(1988),
{¶ 9} The burden of showing that no genuine issue of material fact exists falls upon the party requesting summary judgment.Dresher v. Burt (1996),
{¶ 10} We apply identical standards of interpretation to insurance contracts as we do to other written contracts. HybudEquip. Corp. v. Sphere Drake Ins. Co., Ltd. (1992),
{¶ 11} When a corporation is a named insured in an auto policy, an employee of that corporation can make a claim for uninsured motorist coverage provided the policy uses the ambiguous word "you" in the definition of "insured" in the uninsured motorist portion of the policy. Scott-Pontzer (1999),
{¶ 12} Here, we will assume, arguendo, that Castle Care Lawn Service is like a corporation. The policy named Castle Care Lawn Service as the insured. The policy used the word "you" to define the "insured." However, even though Howard was an employee of Castle Care Lawn Service, there is no evidence to show that he was acting within the course and scope of his employment.Scott-Pontzer as limited by Galatis. Consequently, Howard was not an insured under the insurance contract Erie issued to Castle Care Lawn Service and cannot receive UM benefits.
{¶ 13} Accordingly, we overrule Beagle's sole assignment of error.
{¶ 15} Accordingly, we overrule Beagle's assignment of error and affirm the judgment of the trial court.
Judgment Affirmed.
Abele, J. and Evans, J., concur in Judgment and Opinion.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.