TRIALCOURTDECISIONS
026
cases of note
trial court
decisions
Arcade v. AGCS Marine Insurance
March 18, 2015
United States District Court, District of Arizona
Don Myles, Chelsey Golightly and Sean Moore
Don Myles, Chelsey Golightly and Sean Moore recently
secured summary judgment in Federal Court for one of the
Firm’s clients, AGCS Marine Insurance, a division of Allianz
USA (“AGCS”). Specifically, the United States District Court
for the District of Arizona dismissed the Plaintiff’s claims for
breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith and fair
dealing, and punitive damages.
This case arose out of the alleged theft of amusement gaming
machines from various small businesses in the Dallas/Fort
Worth area. Plaintiff, owner of the amusement machines and
an Arizona resident, used Craigslist to hire several persons to
run the daily operations of its business in Texas. After some
time, Plaintiff noticed a substantial decrease in its profits and
sent a representative to Texas to investigate these changes.
After visiting the small businesses and a nearby storage unit,
Plaintiff’s representative discovered that all but a few of the
machines were missing. The various small business owners
told Plaintiff’s representative that the persons hired from
Craigslist removed the machines. The Craigslist hires were
also the only persons with keys to the storage unit. There were
no signs of forced entry.
Two months later, Plaintiff made a claim under its AGCS
insurance policy claiming the machines were stolen. The
policy, however, contained an exclusion for property lost or
damaged as the result of the dishonest or criminal acts by
anyone to whom the property had been entrusted. While
AGCS was investigating the claim, and before a coverage
determination was made, Plaintiff filed this lawsuit.
After minimal discovery, Plaintiff filed a motion for summary
judgment claiming the above-referenced exclusion did not
apply and AGCS’ investigation was inadequate. Plaintiff
argued that the persons hired from Craigslist were not
entrusted with the equipment, and there was no admissible
evidence that they stole the machines. In response, AGCS
filed its own motion for summary judgment and argued that
because the exclusion clearly applied, Plaintiff was not entitled
to coverage under the policy. AGCS also provided evidence
that it contacted Plaintiff within 24-hours of the initial claim
and that it performed a reasonable and adequate investigation
regarding the alleged theft.
Without hearing oral argument, the Court agreed with AGCS
and granted its motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff’s
motion was denied, and the case was subsequently dismissed
with prejudice.
Austin v. Peoria Unified School District
March 5, 2015
Maricopa County Superior Court and
Arizona Court of Appeals
Michael Hensley, Jon Barnes and Erik Stone
Michael Hensley, along with Erik Stone and Jonathan Barnes,
recently secured a Court of Appeals victory for one of the
Firm’s school district clients, Peoria Unified School District
(“PUSD”). Specifically, the Arizona Court of Appeals upheld
the Trial Court’s dismissal of the case based on a failure to
comply with the Arizona Notice of Claim Statute in Austin, et
al. v. the Peoria Unified School District.