Court Opinion

ID: 9895893
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-08 21:06:31.963207+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:12:44.216879
License: Public Domain

2023 IL App (1st) 230101-U
                                            No. 1-23-0101
                                                                                   Third Division
                                                                                November 8, 2023

     NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the
     limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).
     ______________________________________________________________________________

                                         IN THE
                             APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
                                     FIRST DISTRICT
     ______________________________________________________________________________

     CHICAGO WHITE SOX, LTD.; CHISOX                   )
     CORPORATION; CWS MAINTENANCE COMPANY; )
     AT YOUR SERVICE, LLC; and AXIS INSURANCE          )
     COMPANY, Individually and as Subrogee of Chicago )
     White Sox, Ltd., CHISOX Corporation, CWS          )
     Maintenance Company, and At Your Service, LLC,    )
                                                       )
            Plaintiffs,                                ) Appeal from the Circuit Court
                                                       ) of Cook County.
     v.                                                )
                                                       ) No. 16 CH 6403
     STATE AUTOMOBILE MUTUAL INSURANCE                 )
     COMPANY and WE CLEAN MAINTENANCE AND )              The Honorable
     SUPPLIES, INC.,                                   ) Anna M. Loftus,
                                                       ) Judge Presiding.
            Defendants                                 )
                                                       )
     (AXIS Insurance Company, Plaintiff-Appellant; and )
     State Automobile Mutual Insurance Company,        )
     Defendant-Appellee).                              )
     ______________________________________________________________________________

               PRESIDING JUSTICE REYES delivered the judgment of the court.
               Justices Lampkin and Navarro concurred in the judgment.

                                            ORDER

¶1        Held: The circuit court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant
                insurance company where the plaintiffs were not additional insureds under the
                insurance policy, as there was no written agreement between the plaintiffs and the
                insured requiring them to be named as such.
     No. 1-23-0101

¶2         The instant appeal arises from a dispute between plaintiff AXIS Insurance Company

        (AXIS), as subrogee for plaintiffs Chicago White Sox, Ltd., CHISOX Corporation, CWS

        Maintenance Company, and At Your Service, LLC (collectively, the White Sox plaintiffs), and

        defendant State Automobile Mutual Insurance Company (State Auto), the insurer for defendant

        We Clean Maintenance and Supplies, Inc. (We Clean). After a patron was injured at a Chicago

        White Sox game, he filed a lawsuit against the White Sox plaintiffs, and the White Sox

        plaintiffs tendered the defense of that suit to State Auto, the insurer for We Clean, a company

        with which the White Sox plaintiffs had contracted to perform cleaning services at the ballpark.

        State Auto, however, rejected the tender and refused to defend the suit, claiming that the White

        Sox plaintiffs were not “additional insureds” under its policy. The White Sox plaintiffs—and

        AXIS, as their insurer—filed suit against State Auto and We Clean, alleging that State Auto

        had wrongfully denied coverage. Both AXIS and State Auto filed motions for summary

        judgment, and the circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of State Auto, finding that

        the White Sox plaintiffs were not “additional insureds.” AXIS now appeals and, for the reasons

        that follow, we affirm.

¶3                                          BACKGROUND

¶4                                    Parties and Underlying Lawsuit

¶5         Beginning in 2008 and continuing at least through 2012, the White Sox plaintiffs entered

        into a series of written agreements with We Clean pursuant to which We Clean agreed to

        provide cleaning services for all home games played by the Chicago White Sox during the

        applicable baseball season.

                                                      2
       No. 1-23-0101

¶6             In 2011, while at U.S. Cellular Field, 1 Raymond Myles was injured as he was walking

           down a ramp. Myles filed a lawsuit against the White Sox plaintiffs in the circuit court of Cook

           County (the underlying lawsuit), alleging that they were negligent in causing his injuries due

           to, inter alia, failing to inspect the premises to ensure that the ramps were free from excessive

           garbage. The lawsuit was later voluntarily dismissed and subsequently refiled under a different

           case number, and was ultimately settled for an undisclosed amount.

¶7             In 2014, the White Sox plaintiffs tendered the defense of the underlying lawsuit to State

           Auto, the insurer for We Clean, as additional insureds under We Clean’s insurance policy. The

           White Sox plaintiffs made a second tender in 2015, but State Auto refused to provide them

           with a defense. A third tender was made in 2016, which State Auto again refused to accept,

           and the White Sox plaintiffs and AXIS, their insurer, ultimately incurred the costs of defending

           and settling the case.

¶8                                  State Auto Policy and We Clean Contract

¶9             As noted, We Clean was insured by State Auto under a commercial general liability

           insurance policy. While We Clean was the sole named insured on the policy, the policy

           contained an endorsement adding as an additional insured “[a]ny person or organization for

           whom you are performing operations when you and such person or organization have agreed

           in a written contract or written agreement that such person or organization be added as an

           additional insured on your policy.”

¶ 10           As relevant to the instant appeal, We Clean entered into several “Contract[s] for Services”

           with the White Sox plaintiffs between 2008 and 2012 (the service contracts). All of the service

               While the facility was known as U.S. Cellular Field at the time at issue, it has since been
               1

       renamed as Guaranteed Rate Field.
                                                           3
       No. 1-23-0101

           contracts contained the same language: “Vendor will comply with all insurance requirements

           set forth by the Chicago White Sox, and will provide certification of such insurance.”2

¶ 11           As to 2008, 2009, and 2012, the record also contains an “Indemnification and Insurance

           Agreement,” which provides that We Clean “shall procure, at its sole cost and expense, the

           insurance coverages set forth below, and shall maintain such coverages in full force and effect

           as specified in this Agreement. The Contractor shall include the Indemnified Parties and such

           other parties as CWS may designate as additional insureds to the insurance policies described

           below ***. The insurance coverage afforded under the policies described herein shall be

           primary and non-contributing with respect to any insurance or self-insurance carried

           independently by the additional insureds.” The agreement further provided that We Clean

           “shall promptly furnish CWS with certificates of insurance evidencing the coverages

           hereunder, and shall not commence any services until such insurance is obtained.” The

           “insurance policies described below” in the agreement consisted of four different types of

           insurance, including a commercial general liability insurance policy. No “Indemnification and

           Insurance Agreement” for either 2010 or 2011 is contained in the record on appeal, and an

           affidavit from a White Sox representative indicates that the White Sox plaintiffs were unable

           to locate such a document. 3

¶ 12           Finally, the record on appeal contains certificates of insurance for each year, which provide

           that “[t]he following are listed as primary & non-contributory additional insured under general

           liability & primary additional insured under automobile liability,” and which list the White

               2
                  The 2011 service contract uses the term “Client” and not “Chicago White Sox,” but the
       provision is otherwise identical. We also note that the 2011 service contract provides that it is effective
       for the 2011 baseball season, but that extensions were available for the 2012 and 2013 baseball seasons.
       Accordingly, there is no separate service contract for the 2012 baseball season.
                3
                  We also note that, in its motion for summary judgment, AXIS indicates that “We Clean did not
       sign separate Indemnification and Insurance Agreements for years 2010 and 2011.”
                                                            4
       No. 1-23-0101

          Sox plaintiffs as additional insureds. The certificates of insurance include disclaimers that

          “THIS CERTIFICATE IS ISSUED AS A MATTER OF INFORMATION ONLY AND

          CONFERS NO RIGHTS UPON THE CERTIFICATE HOLDER,” and that “[i]f the certificate

          holder is an ADDITIONAL INSURED, the policy(ies) must be endorsed. *** A statement on

          this certificate does not confer rights to the certificate holder in lieu of such endorsement(s)”

          (emphases in original).

¶ 13                                             Complaint

¶ 14         The White Sox plaintiffs filed a complaint for declaratory judgment in May 2016; the

          complaint was amended twice and it is the second amended complaint, which added AXIS as

          a plaintiff, which was the operative complaint at the time of the motions for summary judgment

          at issue in the instant appeal. While the second amended complaint raised a total of 11 counts,

          we discuss here only the ones relevant to the issues on appeal.

¶ 15         Count I of the complaint was against State Auto for breach of contract concerning the

          underlying lawsuit, and alleged that State Auto breached its 2010-11 policy by refusing to

          provide a defense to the underlying lawsuit. Count II alleged that, due to State Auto’s

          unreasonable refusal to defend the underlying lawsuit, it should be estopped from raising any

          defenses to coverage. Count III was similar to count I, except it alleged that State Auto had

          breached its duty to indemnify the expenses incurred in the underlying lawsuit. Count IV

          alleged a violation of section 155 of the Illinois Insurance Code (215 ILCS 5/155 (West 2018))

          based on State Auto’s conduct. Count V sought equitable subrogation, as the complaint alleged

          the AXIS insurance policy was secondary to the State Auto policy, while count VI, in the

          alternative, requested equitable contribution for the amounts expended by AXIS. Finally, count

                                                       5
       No. 1-23-0101

           VIII4 was for declaratory judgment, and sought a declaration that State Auto was responsible

           for paying the amounts owed by We Clean for We Clean’s breach of the contract between We

           Clean and the White Sox plaintiffs, which required We Clean to provide a defense and

           indemnification to the White Sox plaintiffs with respect to the underlying lawsuit.

¶ 16           Both AXIS and State Auto ultimately filed motions for partial summary judgment with

           respect to counts I, II, III, IV, V, and VIII of the second amended complaint. 5 Both motions

           primarily concerned the question of whether the 2011 service contract constituted a written

           agreement that the White Sox plaintiffs be added as additional insureds on the State Auto

           policy such that they would be afforded coverage under We Clean’s policy. AXIS contended

           that the service contract, which required We Clean to comply with the White Sox plaintiffs’

           “insurance requirements,” sufficed despite the absence of a 2011 indemnification and

           insurance agreement, based on the parties’ course of conduct. State Auto, by contrast,

           maintained that the absence of an indemnification and insurance agreement meant that We

           Clean and the White Sox plaintiffs never expressly agreed to add the White Sox plaintiffs as

           additional insureds under We Clean’s policy, as required by the terms of the policy.

¶ 17           On December 15, 2022, the circuit court granted State Auto’s motion for summary

           judgment on counts I, II, III, IV, V, and VIII. The circuit court found that the provision in the

               4
                   We note that the second amended complaint contains two counts labeled “count VIII.” Only the
       first is at issue on appeal. We additionally note that count VII was directed at We Clean, but the record
       indicates that the company was dissolved in November 2016, and the circuit court entered an order of
       default against We Clean in October 2020.
                 5
                   The White Sox plaintiffs also filed a motion for partial summary judgment, which incorporated
       the AXIS motion and also sought summary judgment on the second “count VIII” and on count IX, both of
       which concerned a different lawsuit that is not at issue on appeal. State Auto also filed a cross-motion for
       summary judgment on the second “count VIII” and on count IX. At the time of the hearing on the motions
       for summary judgment at issue on appeal, however, the parties informed the circuit court that the claims
       concerning the other lawsuit “ha[ve] been resolved,” and the circuit court later entered an order
       dismissing those counts with prejudice.
                                                            6
       No. 1-23-0101

           service contract that We Clean “comply with all insurance requirements” was not ambiguous

           and it therefore could not look to parol evidence to determine whether the insurance

           requirements included adding the White Sox plaintiffs as additional insureds to We Clean’s

           insurance policy. The circuit court further found that there was no just reason to delay

           enforcement or appeal of its order, as judgment had been entered in favor of State Auto and

           against AXIS. AXIS timely filed a notice of appeal, and this appeal follows. 6

¶ 18                                                ANALYSIS

¶ 19           On appeal, AXIS contends that the circuit court erred in granting summary judgment in

           favor of State Auto, as the evidence established that the White Sox plaintiffs were additional

           insureds under We Clean’s insurance policy. A circuit court is permitted to grant summary

           judgment only if the pleadings, depositions, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits,

           if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is

           entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. 735 ILCS 5/2-1005(c) (West 2020). The circuit court

           must view these documents and exhibits in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.

           Home Insurance Co. v. Cincinnati Insurance Co., 213 Ill. 2d 307, 315 (2004). We review a

           circuit court’s decision to grant a motion for summary judgment de novo. Outboard Marine

           Corp. v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., 154 Ill. 2d 90, 102 (1992).

¶ 20           Summary judgment is a drastic measure and should only be granted if the movant’s right

           to judgment is clear and free from doubt. XL Specialty Insurance Co. v. Performance Aircraft

           Leasing, Inc., 2019 IL App (1st) 181031, ¶ 63. However, mere speculation, conjecture, or

           guess is insufficient to withstand summary judgment. Sorce v. Naperville Jeep Eagle, Inc., 309

               6
                We note that, after the filing of the notice of appeal, the circuit court entered an order which
       “nunc pro tunc” granted summary judgment in State Auto’s favor on count VI of the second amended
       complaint, which had been pleaded in the alternative.
                                                             7
       No. 1-23-0101

          Ill. App. 3d 313, 328 (1999). The party moving for summary judgment bears the initial burden

          of proof. Nedzvekas v. Fung, 374 Ill. App. 3d 618, 624 (2007). The movant may meet his

          burden of proof either by affirmatively demonstrating that some element of the case must be

          resolved in his favor or by establishing that there is an absence of evidence to support the

          nonmoving party’s case. Id. (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325 (1986)). The

          purpose of summary judgment is not to try an issue of fact but to determine whether a triable

          issue of fact exists. Schrager v. North Community Bank, 328 Ill. App. 3d 696, 708 (2002)

          (citing Luu v. Kim, 323 Ill. App. 3d 946, 952 (2001)).

¶ 21         Where, as here, the parties have filed cross-motions for summary judgment, “they agree

          that only a question of law is involved and invite the court to decide the issues based on the

          record.” Pielet v. Pielet, 2012 IL 112064, ¶ 28. The mere filing of such cross-motions,

          however, does not establish that there is no genuine issue of material fact, nor does it obligate

          a court to render summary judgment. Id. We also note that we may affirm on any basis

          appearing in the record, whether or not the circuit court relied on that basis or its reasoning

          was correct. Ray Dancer, Inc. v. DMC Corp., 230 Ill. App. 3d 40, 50 (1992).

¶ 22         In this case, the sole issue is whether the White Sox plaintiffs qualified as additional

          insureds under We Clean’s insurance policy. Under the terms of the policy, State Auto agreed

          to cover “[a]ny person or organization for whom you are performing operations when you and

          such person or organization have agreed in a written contract or written agreement that such

          person or organization be added as an additional insured on your policy.” The 2011 service

          contract, which was the contract in operation at the time of Myles’ injury, provided that

          “Vendor will comply with all insurance requirements set forth by Client, and will provide

          certification of such insurance.” Unlike other years, however, there was no accompanying

                                                       8
       No. 1-23-0101

          “Indemnification and Insurance Agreement” in which such insurance requirements were

          detailed. State Auto therefore maintains—and the circuit court agreed—that the service

          contract was insufficient to constitute a “written contract or written agreement” in which We

          Clean agreed to add the White Sox plaintiffs as additional insureds under its policy. AXIS, by

          contrast, claims that the circuit court should have looked to extrinsic evidence to conclude that

          the “insurance requirements” of the 2011 service contract included the requirement that the

          White Sox plaintiffs be added as additional insureds.

¶ 23         In construing a contract, the primary objective is to give effect to the intention of the parties.

          Thompson v. Gordon, 241 Ill. 2d 428, 441 (2011). A court will first look to the language of the

          contract itself, and if the words in the contract are clear and unambiguous, they must be given

          their plain, ordinary, and popular meaning. Id. If, however, the language is ambiguous, the

          court may consider extrinsic evidence to determine the parties’ intent. Id. A contract is not

          rendered ambiguous simply due to the parties’ disagreement as to its meaning. Clanton v.

          Oakbrook Healthcare Centre, Ltd., 2023 IL 129067, ¶ 33. Instead, it is considered ambiguous

          “when the contract language ‘is susceptible to more than one meaning or is obscure in

          meaning.’ ” Id. (quoting Wolff v. Bethany North Suburban Group, 2021 IL App (1st) 191858,

          ¶ 37).

¶ 24         In this case, there is no dispute that the language of the insurance policy is clear and

          unambiguous—it clearly provides coverage for “[a]ny person or organization for whom you

          are performing operations when you and such person or organization have agreed in a written

          contract or written agreement that such person or organization be added as an additional

          insured on your policy.” See also Westfield Insurance Co. v. FCL Builders, Inc., 407 Ill. App.

          3d 730, 733-34 (2011) (construing identical language). The only question is whether the terms

                                                         9
       No. 1-23-0101

          of the 2011 service contract satisfy the conditions of the insurance policy. We agree with State

          Auto and the circuit court that they do not.

¶ 25         First, the language of the service contract merely requires We Clean to “comply with all

          insurance requirements set forth” by the White Sox plaintiffs and does not expressly require

          We Clean to name the White Sox plaintiffs as additional insureds under its insurance policy.

          Several courts have found that the lack of such express language is fatal to a claim that a party

          is an additional insured. See, e.g., id. at 734 (finding general contractor not to be an additional

          insured where there was no direct agreement between the general contractor and the sub-

          subcontractor requiring it to name the general contractor as an additional insured); West Bend

          Mutual Insurance Co. v. Athens Construction Co., 2015 IL App (1st) 140006, ¶ 28 (finding

          general contractor not to be an additional insured where agreement between general contractor

          and subcontractor merely required subcontractor to state that the general contractor was an

          additional insured on a certificate of insurance).

¶ 26         Additionally, we cannot agree with AXIS that the term “insurance requirements” in the

          service contract is ambiguous such that we may look to extrinsic evidence to determine

          whether such “insurance requirements” included a requirement that the White Sox plaintiffs

          be added as additional insureds. AXIS contends that a court may use extrinsic evidence to

          determine the terms of a contract where those terms are missing from the contract itself. See

          Academy Chicago Publishers v. Cheever, 144 Ill. 2d 24, 30 (1991) (a contract may be enforced

          even though some of the terms may be missing); Rose v. Mavrakis, 343 Ill. App. 3d 1086, 1091

          (2003) (same). In this case, however, there are no missing terms or unclear terms—the service

          contract specifically states that We Clean is to comply with the White Sox plaintiffs’

          “insurance requirements.” The problem is that there apparently were no insurance

                                                         10
       No. 1-23-0101

          requirements in 2011, at least none that were reduced to writing. Thus, without a written

          agreement that the White Sox plaintiffs were to be named as additional insureds under We

          Clean’s policy, there is no basis for finding that they were, in fact, additional insureds and the

          circuit court properly granted summary judgment in favor of State Auto.

¶ 27         We do not find persuasive AXIS’ reliance on Old Republic Insurance Co. v. Kenny

          Construction Co., No. 15-CV-03524, 2017 WL 4921970 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 31, 2017). First, this

          case is an unpublished federal district court case, and it is well established that such cases are

          not binding on this court. See, e.g., Kerbes v. Raceway Associates, LLC, 2011 IL App (1st)

          110318, ¶ 34; King’s Health Spa, Inc. v. Village of Downers Grove, 2014 IL App (2d) 130825,

          ¶ 63; FHP Tectonics Corp. v. American Home Assurance Co., 2016 IL App (1st) 130291, ¶ 45

          n.4; People v. Chatman, 2016 IL App (1st) 152395, ¶ 63 n.27. Moreover, the facts in Kenny

          Construction differ significantly from those in the case at bar. There, the subcontract at issue

          provided that “ ‘[s]ubmittal of the subcontractor’s evidence of insurances shall include the

          contractor, the owner and any other additional insureds as required per the Insurance

          Requirement Sheet attached thereto.’ ” (Emphasis added.) Kenny Construction, No. 15-CV-

          03524, 2017 WL 4921970, *1. The district court was therefore required to determine if the

          reference to “other additional insureds” meant that the prior listed entities—the contractor and

          the owner—were also additional insureds. Id. *4. Since the term was susceptible to two

          different meanings, the district court looked to parol evidence to resolve the ambiguity. Id. *5.

          Here, by contrast, there are no competing inferences such that parol evidence is necessary to

          resolve any ambiguity and accordingly, we find Kenny Construction to be inapposite.

                                                       11
       No. 1-23-0101

¶ 28                                         CONCLUSION

¶ 29         For the reasons set forth above, we affirm the circuit court’s grant of summary judgment

          in favor of State Auto. Since there was no written agreement between We Clean and the White

          Sox plaintiffs requiring the White Sox plaintiffs to be named as additional insureds under We

          Clean’s policy, the White Sox plaintiffs were not entitled to coverage by State Auto.

¶ 30         Affirmed.

                                                      12