FI L ED U.S. COURT OF APPEAL S EL EVENTH CI RCUI T J UNE 28, 2011
J OHN L EY CL ERK [ D O N O T P U B L I S H ]

I N T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S C O U R T O F A P P E A L S

F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C I R C U I T

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

N o

. 0 9

- 1 4 8 5 6

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

D

. C

. D o c k e t N o

. 0 8

- 2 1 5 4 4

- C V

- W M H

A R C H C R E E K Y A C H T S A L E S
, L L C
,

P l a i n t i f f

- A p p e l l a n t ,

v e r s u s

G R E A T A M E R I C A N I N S U R A N C E C O M P A N Y O F N E W Y O R K
, a N e w Y o r k c o r p o r a t i o n ,

D e f e n d a n t

- A p p e l l e e

.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A p p e a l f r o m t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s D i s t r i c t C o u r t f o r t h e S o u t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f F l o r i d a

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ( J u n e 2 8
, 2 0 1 1 )B e f

o r e E D M O N D S O N a n d P R Y O R
, C i r c u i t J u d g e s , a n d E V A N S
, D i s t r i c t J u d g e

. *

P E R C U R I A M :

A f t e r b u s i n e s s h o u r s , a p e r s o n e m p l o y e d b y A r c h C r e e k Y a c h t S a l e s ( “ A r c h

C r e e k ” ) s t o l e a b o a t f

r o m t h e c o m p a n y

. T h i s p e r s o n r a n t h e b o a t a g r o u n d

, a n d i t

s a n k

. C i t i n g a n i n s u r a n c e

- p o l i c y e x c l u s i o n f o r l o s s e s c a u s e d b y “ a n y d i s h o n e s t a c t

o n t h e p a r t o f t h e i n s u r e d [ ’ s ]

. . . e m p l o y e e s , ” G r e a t A m e r i c a n I n s u r a n c e C o m p a n y

d e n i e d c o v e r a g e

. T h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t d e n i e d A r c h C r e e k ’ s m o t i o n f o r s u m m a r y

j u d g m e n t f

o r b r e a c h o f c o n t r a c t a n d g r a n t e d t h e i n s u r e r ’ s m o t i o n f o r s u m m a r y

j u d g m e n t o n t h e a p p l i c a b i l i t y o f t h e p o l i c y e x c l u s i o n ; w e a f f i r m t h e j u d g m e n t

.

T h e i s s u e i n t h i s c a s e i s w h e t h e r u n d e r t h e s e f a c t s t h e w o r d “ e m p l o y e e ”

- - n o t

d e f i n e d i n t h e i n s u r a n c e

- p o l i c y e x c l u s i o n

- - c o v e r s a p e r s o n w h o m t h e c o m p a n y h a s

i n i t s s e r v i c e a n d p a y s a s a l a r y b u t w h o a t t h e p e r t i n e n t t i m e i s a c t i n g a f t e r b u s i n e s s

h o u r s a n d o u t s i d e t h e s c o p e o f t h e b u s i n e s s

.

F o r a n i n s u r a n c e c o n t r a c t , i n t e r p r e t e d u n d e r N e w Y o r k l a w a s t h e p a r t i e s ’

c o n t r a c t r e q u i r e s , “ u n a m b i g u o u s p r o v i s i o n s m u s t b e g i v e n t h e i r p l a i n a n d o r d i n a r y

m e a n i n g

. ” S a n a b r i a v

. A m

. H o m e A s s u r a n c e C o

. , 5 0 8 N

. Y

. S

. 2 d 4 1 6
, 4 1 6 ( N

. Y

.

Honora ble Orinda

Evans, United States District Judge f or the Nor

thern District of * Geor g ia, sitting by

desig nation.

21 9 8 6 )

. A p p l y i n g t h e t e s t s o f “ c o m m o n s p e e c h ” a n d “ t h e r e a s o n a b l e e x p e c t a t i o n

a n d p u r p o s e o f t h e o r d i n a r y b u s i n e s s m a n , ” M D W E n t e r s

. , I n c

. v

. C N A I n s

. C o

. ,

7 7 2 N

. Y

. S

. 2 d 7 9
, 8 2 ( N

. Y

. 2 0 0 4 ) ( i n t e r n a l q u o t a t i o n m a r k s o m i t t e d )

, w e a g r e e

w i t h t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t t h a t t h e w o r d “ e m p l o y e e ” i n t h e p o l i c y e x c l u s i o n i s

u n a m b i g u o u s a n d p l a i n l y d e s c r i b e s t h e b o a t t h i e f h e r e

. B o t h c o m m o n s p e e c h a n d

t h e e x p e c t a t i o n s o f a n o r d i n a r y b u s i n e s s m a n d i c t a t e t h a t s o m e o n e w h o w a s i n f a c t

e m p l o y e d f

u l l t i m e f o r a s a l a r y b y A r c h C r e e k w o u l d

- - a t a l l t i m e s

- - b e d e s c r i b e d

a c c u r a t e l y a s a n A r c h C r e e k “ e m p l o y e e

. ” 1

A F F I R M E D

.

Arc h Creek a

rg ues that diffe rent jurisdictions, other than N ew Yor k, have inter

prete d 1 the word “ employ ee” differ ently from one a

nother whe re a fter- hours conduc t is invol ved, thus making “employ ee” ambig uous and re quiring that that word’s me aning be construe d ag ainst the insurer/dra fter. B ut under Ne w York la w, the mer e existence of suc h a split in judi cial author ity is not sufficient to cre ate c ontrac t ambiguity . See B ree d v. I ns. Co. of N. Am., 413 N.Y.S.2d 352, 355 (N.Y. 1978) (citing Har tiga n v. Cas. Co. of Am., 124 N.E. 789, 790 (N.Y . 1919)).

3