Court Opinion

ID: 9537652
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 07:20:59.39813+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:56:52.708386
License: Public Domain

CARDINE, Justice,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur in the opinion insofar as it affirms the summary judgment of the district court holding no coverage and, therefore, no duty to defend appellant’s claim under the contractual liability, incidental contract coverage. I dissent from that part of the opinion holding there was a duty to defend based upon the conclusory allegations in the complaint which, in essence, state that (a) the bank was negligent in making a loan commitment (an offer accepted which resulted in a contract), and (b) negligent in failing to do as agreed (breach of contract). Cf Tate v. Mountain States Tel. and Tel. Co., 647 P.2d 58, 63 (Wyo.1982) (setting forth circumstances under which relationship created by contract gives rise to duty in tort); Cf. also McCullough v. Golden Rule Ins. Co., 789 P.2d 855, 856-60 (Wyo. 1990); Cline v. Sawyer, 600 P.2d 725, 732 (Wyo.1979); Brubaker v. Glenrock Lodge Int’l Order of Odd Fellows, 526 P.2d 52, 58-59 (Wyo.1974).
An action upon a contract does not become an action also in tort simply by use of the word negligence in a pleading. If that were so, every contract action would also be a tort action. What is clearly required and stated in law is that facts must be alleged which state a claim in tort. See MacKrell v. Bell H2S Safety, 795 P.2d 776, 779 (Wyo.1990) (plaintiff's bald statement that a party is negligent is insufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact). Such facts are not yet alleged in appellant’s complaint. Appellant, however, has so far been denied significant discovery which might disclose facts sufficient to state a claim in tort. See Home Ins. Co. v. Elston Equip. Co., 810 P.2d 992, 995 (Wyo.1991) (summary judgment for defendant in products liability case reversed where plaintiff’s expert unable to examine allegedly defective heater hose). I, therefore, concur in the remand to conclude the in camera examination and resolve questions concerning privilege and appropriate disclosure of documents.
Finally, I strenuously object to this court’s disclosure of the contents of documents which we ordered not be disclosed by appellant’s counsel and which are still the subject of discovery proceedings. Parenthetically, I note that these documents have nothing to do with the determination of the duty-to-defend question, but only would be relevant to a bad-faith claim if such duty were first found to exist.