Pine Bluff School District v. Ace American Insurance Co., No. 19-2594 (8th Cir. 2020)
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The school district filed suit against ACE, seeking a declaratory judgment stating that the school district's legal liability insurance policy provided coverage for a teacher's retaliatory discharge lawsuit filed against the school district and the principal of Pine Bluff High School. The school district argued that coverage existed for the underlying lawsuit or, alternatively, ACE waived all defenses to coverage and was estopped from claiming no coverage.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of ACE, holding that the single claim provision unambiguously applies and that neither the 2015 Policy nor the 2016 Policy provide coverage for the school district's claim based on the teacher's September 22, 2016 lawsuit. The court applied Arkansas law and held that the doctrines of waiver and estoppel are inapplicable here.
Court Description: [Chief Judge Smith, Author, with Benton and Kobes, Circuit Judges] Civil Case - Diversity. In this declaratory judgment action, the Pine Bluff School District sought insurance coverage from ACE American Insurance Company for a teacher's retaliatory discharge lawsuit, or a declaration ACE waived all defenses or was estopped from claiming coverage. Under two policies, coverage is conditioned on timely notice, and because notice of the underlying lawsuit was given after the expiration of one policy and before the policy period of the second policy, coverage was denied. The district court's grant of summary judgment to ACE is affirmed, as both policies are claims made and reported policies, and both the EEOC charge and lawsuit in the underlying case are considered one claim under the single claim provision. The single claim provision unambiguously applies. Under Arkansas law, the doctrine of waiver or estoppel cannot be given the effect of extending coverage and thus are inapplicable.
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