Gregory v. Cna Ins. Co., Unpublished Decision (6-16-2004)
Gregory v. Cna Ins. Co., Unpublished Decision (6-16-2004)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 3} At the time of the accident, Harold was employed by The Gerstenslager Company ("Gerstenslager"). Appellee had issued three insurance policies to Gerstenslager including: (1) a Business Auto Policy ("BAP"); (2) a Commercial General Liability policy ("CGL"); and (3) a Commercial Umbrella Plus policy ("CUP"). The named insured under each policy was "The Gerstenslager Co." The BAP had both a "Drive Other Car Coverage-Broadened Coverage for Named Individuals" endorsement and an "Ohio Uninsured Motorists Coverage" endorsement. The "Drive Other Car Coverage-Broadened Coverage for Named Individuals" endorsement named "John H. Margaret McConnell" as additional insureds.
{¶ 4} On October 30, 2001, Appellants filed suit against Appellee wherein they claimed that they were insured under the policies Appellee issued to Gerstenslager and, as a result, were entitled to compensation for the injuries they sustained as a result of the accident with Long. Appellee answered Appellants' complaint, wherein it denied any obligation to pay Appellants for the injuries they sustained as a result of the accident with Long. In addition, Appellee asserted twenty-six affirmative defenses to Appellants' claim.
{¶ 5} On November 25, 2002, Appellee filed a motion for summary judgment, to which Appellants responded on June 13, 2003. The trial court granted Appellee's motion on July 8, 2003. Appellants' have timely appealed the trial court's decision, asserting four assignments of error. We have consolidated their assignments of error for ease of analysis.
{¶ 6} In Appellants' four assignments of error, they have argued that they are entitled to coverage pursuant to the various insurance policies issued to Gerstenslager by Appellee. Specifically, they have argued that because they are insured under the policies issued by Appellee, the trial court abused its discretion when it granted summary judgment in favor of Appellee. We disagree.
{¶ 7} As an initial matter, we note that the appropriate appellate standard of review for an award of summary judgment is de novo. Doe v. Shaffer (2000),
{¶ 8} According to Civ.R. 56(C), summary judgment is proper if: (1) no genuine issue as to any material fact remains to be litigated; (2) the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law; and (3) it appears from the evidence, viewed most strongly in favor of the nonmoving party, that reasonable minds can come to but one conclusion, which is adverse to the non-moving party. See State ex rel. Howard v. Ferreri (1994),
{¶ 9} To prevail on a motion for summary judgment, the moving party must be able to point to evidentiary materials that show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.Dresher v. Burt (1996),
{¶ 10} In all four of Appellants' assignments of error, they have presented arguments premised on their assumption that Harold was an insured under the policies issued to Gerstenslager by Appellee pursuant to Scott-Pontzer v. Liberty Mut. Fire Ins.Co. (1999),
{¶ 11} This Court finds that no genuine issue as to any material fact remains to be litigated in the instant matter because Appellants' assumption that they are insureds under the policies issued to Gerstenslager by Appellee is no longer valid given the Ohio Supreme Court's ruling in Galatis. Galatis
served to limit Scott-Pontzer in that it "restrict[ed] the application of uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage issued to a corporation to employees only while they are acting within the course and scope of their employment, unless otherwise specifically agreed." (Alterations added.) Galatis,
"Where a policy of insurance designates a corporation as a named insured, the designation of `family members' of the named insured as other insureds does not extend insurance coverage to a family member of an employee of the corporation, unless that employee is also a named insured. (Citations omitted.) Id. at paragraph three of the syllabus.
{¶ 12} In the instant matter, Appellants asserted in their appellate brief that "[a]t the time of the accident Harold was not operating a company owned vehicle nor was he in the course and scope of his employment." Furthermore, Harold was not a "named insured" for purposes of coverage under the policies Appellee issued to Gerstenslager. Therefore, pursuant toGalatis, Harold was not an insured under any of the policies issued to Gerstenslager. See Galatis,
{¶ 13} Based on the foregoing, this Court concludes that summary judgment was properly granted to Appellee. Appellants' assignments of error are not well taken. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
The Court finds that there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
We order that a special mandate issue out of this Court, directing the Court of Common Pleas, County of Wayne, State of Ohio, to carry this judgment into execution. A certified copy of this journal entry shall constitute the mandate, pursuant to App.R. 27.
Immediately upon the filing hereof, this document shall constitute the journal entry of judgment, and it shall be file stamped by the Clerk of the Court of Appeals at which time the period for review shall begin to run. App.R. 22(E). The Clerk of the Court of Appeals is instructed to mail a notice of entry of this judgment to the parties and to make a notation of the mailing in the docket, pursuant to App.R. 30.
Costs taxed to Appellant.
Exceptions.
Carr, P.J. Slaby, J. concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.