Trinity Universal Insurance Co. v. Cellular One Group
Trinity Universal Insurance Co. v. Cellular One Group
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court,
Cellular One Group, a wireless telephone manufacturer, was sued in three putative class action lawsuits in which the plaintiffs alleged that radio frequency radiation emitted by wireless telephone handsets caused biological injury. Cellular One tendered the defense of these suits to its insurer, Trinity Universal Insurance Company, from which Cellular One had purchased a number of commercial general liability policies and excess liability policies over a ten-year period. The policies at issue covered “those sums that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of ‘bodily injury
Trinity agreed to defend the cases, but reserved its right to contest its obligation to defend or indemnify. Trinity then sought a declaration that it had no duty to defend the cases. On cross motions for summary judgment, the trial court held that Trinity had a duty to defend Cellular One in Farina, Gilliam, and Pinney.
. Trinity’s motion for summary judgment stated that Trinity was a defendant in five class action lawsuits (Pinney, Farina, Gilliam, Gim-pelson, and Naquin) and asserted that there was no duty to defend any of them. For reasons that are not apparent from the record, the trial court's judgment was limited to Farina, Gilliam, and Pinney. Neither party complains of the omission of Gimpelson and Naquin, and we do not address those underlying cases. All of the cases are described more fully in Zurich American Insurance Co. v. Nokia, 268 S.W.3d 487, 2008 WL 3991183, decided today.
Dissenting Opinion
joined by JUSTICE BRISTER, dissenting.
For the reasons expressed today in my dissenting opinion in Zurich American Ins. Co. v. Nokia, Inc., 268 S.W.3d 487, 2008 WL 3991183 (Tex. 2008) (Hecht, J., dissenting), I respectfully dissent from the Court’s opinion in this case.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- TRINITY UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Petitioner, v. CELLULAR ONE GROUP, Respondent
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published