Opinion ID: 3015191
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Deposition and Affidavit of Karen A. Barringer

Text: West Penn next points to the deposition testimony and affidavit of Karen A. Barringer, who served as West Penn’s Assistant General Counsel during the relevant period. West Penn asserts that her testimony could establish that West Penn provided Lexington with notice of the Lieb claim at the 2001 year-end claims meeting. Barringer’s deposition testimony was as follows: A. I know that Lexington had the loss runs. I know that the loss runs—or the claim was reported to PHICO and then to the CAT Fund in mid-year of ‘01. And I would find it hard to believe that it didn’t make it to the loss runs, and I have to make the assumption that they had information about that claim from at least that source, and potentially others that I don’t remember .... Q. Other than the PHICO loss runs that were presented, was there any other information that was presented to Lexington with respect to claims made to PHICO . . . [a]t the claims conference, at any other point during the policy period? 23 A. I am very comfortable that we touched on it at the claims conference. I would assume there are or were correspondence keeping Lexington apprised of cases as they were developing. But I don’t specifically recall any piece of correspondence or any snippet of a conversation that I may have had. Barringer’s affidavit stated, While I have no specific recollection of a discussion of the Lieb Claims at the 2001 Lexington claim review meeting, there were no questions for which responses were outstanding on December 31, 2001. I provided Lexington with all claim information that its claims staff requested at the meeting, including any information that Lexington may have requested regarding the Lieb Claims. We disagree with West Penn that this evidence creates a genuine issue of material fact. Barringer admitted in both her deposition and her affidavit that she had no specific recollection of reporting or discussing the Lieb claim. Her belief that the claim was reported was predicated on her assumption that the claim was included in the loss runs which she provided to Lexington at the claims meeting. While Barringer’s deposition testimony that she “touched on” the Lieb claim at a claims conference appears at first blush to make this a close issue, and while juries often do resolve such conflicts in testimony, we agree with Lexington that this testimony is too speculative to defeat Lexington’s motion for summary judgment. See Hedberg v. Indiana Bell Tel. Co., Inc., 47 F.3d 928, 932 (7th Cir. 1995) (“Speculation does not create a genuine issue of fact; instead, it creates a false issue, the demolition of which is a primary goal of summary judgment.”); see also Adler v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 144 F.3d 664, 674 (10th Cir. 1998) (finding no genuine issue of material fact as to whether employer had knowledge of a sexual harassment incident where plaintiff could not “remember when or exactly what was said” in her discussion 24 with her supervisor).9 For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that West Penn has failed to establish a genuine issue of material fact as to the date of notice; hence, the District Court appropriately determined as a matter of law that notice was not given during the claims period.