Just a day after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed that an insurance policy excluded a box truck from the definition of “auto,” precluding coverage, a federal district court in Missouri has reached the same result with respect to a different item.
The Case
Colton Frisbee and Terry Fletcher, employees of Myron's Precise Paint Systems, Inc., were operating a scissor lift in the parking lot of a building they were painting as part of a work assignment. While Mr. Frisbee was operating the scissor lift, it became unsteady. He jumped from the lift's elevated platform and landed on a truck, and the lift fell on him, killing him.
Mr. Frisbee's daughter, father, and mother (collectively, the “Underlying Claimants”), sued Fletcher for negligence in the death of Mr. Frisbee. They alleged that Fletcher had acted negligently by either selecting the indoor scissor lift for outside use, or, in the alternative, by failing to keep a careful lookout to warn Mr. Frisbee of obstructions on the driving surface.
AMCO Insurance Company, which, among other things, had issued a business auto policy to Myron's that was in effect on the date of the accident, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Missouri seeking a declaration that it had no duty to defend or indemnify Mr. Fletcher in the Underlying Claimants' lawsuit.
AMCO moved for summary judgment.
The Business Auto Policy
The auto policy provided that AMCO would pay for damages resulting from a covered:
auto
, defined as:
a land motor vehicle … designed for travel on public roadsThe District Court's Decision
The district court granted AMCO's motion.
In its decision, the district court ruled that the auto policy did not cover Mr. Fletcher because the scissor lift was not an “auto.”
The district court noted that coverage under the auto policy was limited to accidents involving a covered auto. The policy defined “auto” as a vehicle designed for travel on public roads and, the district court continued, did not include machines that were designed for use principally off public roads.
The accident involved the use of an indoor scissor lift on a parking lot, the district court observed. Because the scissor lift was not designed for use on the public roads, it was not an auto and, therefore, there was no coverage under the auto policy, the district court concluded.
Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].