Opinion ID: 422027
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Executive Officers

Text: 19 Allstate does not address the New Hampshire definition of executive officers in its brief, arguing only that MacDonald and Harding were not executive officers under New York decisions, because they did not have [t]he power to guide or control the policies or purposes of the corporation [Diamond] or to represent it in a proprietary sense. Small v. Gibbs, 222 App.Div. 699, 225 N.Y.S. 141, 141-42 (App.Div.1927). See also Steiner v. Pleasantville Constructors, Inc., 181 Misc. 798, 46 N.Y.S.2d 120, 123 (N.Y.City Ct.1943). 20 Whatever the case under New York law, the New Hampshire Supreme Court has indicated that the term executive officer is ambiguous in the absence of a precise definition in the policy, and must therefore be construed against the insurer. Young v. New Hampshire Indemnity Co., 120 N.H. 882, 884, 424 A.2d 205, 206 (1980). In Young, the New Hampshire court distinguished between corporate officers and executive officers and indicated that an executive officer was any officer holding a position of administrative or managerial responsibility in a business organization. Id. at 883, 424 A.2d at 206. Applying this definition, the court concluded that a plant manager of a manufacturing plant was an executive officer under a provision virtually identical to the one at issue here. In reaching this result, the court noted a number of factors. First, the plant involved many large, complex machines. Second, the plant manager was responsible for supervising three foremen and forty employees and for compliance with federal environmental and occupational health and safety regulations. Third, the plant manager was involved in the purchase and construction of other plants. Fourth, he had in the past bound the corporation to contracts with machinery contractors and other tradesmen on his own signature. In addition, the company treasurer, who purchased the policy, had given his opinion that an executive officer was an officer with authority to hire, fire, get things done in his department. Finally, both the treasurer and president had testified that they thought the plant manager was covered by the policy. 21 Applying Young to the instant case, it is evident that MacDonald was an executive officer under the Allstate policy. He was a vice president of the company, in charge of manufacturing at the time of Morehouse's accident, and was responsible for the entire mill, its engineering functions, and all of its approximately 650 employees. He oversaw other supervisory personnel, including the safety director, the paper machine superintendent, the plant engineer, and the finishing room superintendent. 22 With regard to Harding, the picture is less clear. Like the plant manager in Young, Harding had certain supervisory responsibilities. He supervised seven tour bosses, who in turn supervised the paper machine crews; in all, a total of some 90 to 100 employees reported directly to him. He was a salaried employee. He had research, development, and purchasing responsibility, and power to hire and fire employees. He had an office, a telephone, and secretarial help, though not a secretary of his own. On the other hand, he evidently did not have the sort of plant-wide responsibilities of the manager in Young, nor responsibility for dealing with government regulators. 23 Since the district court denied coverage on other grounds on the basis of New York law, it left the question of Harding's status unresolved. Rather than resolve Harding's status ourselves, we are persuaded that the better course is to remand the question to the district court. As Young indicates, the status determination is fact-sensitive, particularly here, where the question may be close. On remand, the district court is free to develop additional facts. We note only that doubts should be resolved in favor of coverage, in keeping with Young. 24