A New York appeals court recently ruled that Utica First Insurance Company is not responsible for defending or compensating Nino & Nino Corp. in a wrongful death lawsuit. This decision came after an incident in July 2019 where Granville Wiltshire, an employee at Door Restaurant Corp., died from injuries sustained while working in a leased property in Queens.
At the time of the accident, the property was owned by Daniel Nino, who leased it to Door Restaurant. In December 2019, five months after the accident, Daniel transferred ownership of the property to Nino & Nino Corp. Sadly, he passed away in January 2020.
Following Wiltshire’s death, his estate filed a wrongful death suit against both Daniel Nino and Nino & Nino Corp. In response, Nino & Nino Corp. and its insurer, Seneca Insurance Company, sought coverage from Utica First Insurance Company, claiming they were entitled to defense and indemnification under Utica’s policy with Door Restaurant.
However, the insurance policy only listed “Daniel Nino, c/o Community Realty Corp” and “Firtsultus Inc c/o Daniel Nino” as additional insured parties. Nino & Nino Corp. was not included in this list.
Utica First moved to dismiss the case, arguing that the policy clearly showed that Nino & Nino Corp. was not entitled to coverage. The plaintiffs requested a summary judgment to declare that Utica had a duty to defend and indemnify them.
While the Supreme Court in Queens County initially denied both motions, the Appellate Division, Second Department, later reversed part of that decision. The court stated that to qualify for coverage, a party must be named as an insured or additional insured on the policy at the time of the incident. Since Nino & Nino Corp. was not listed and had not owned the property when the accident occurred, they were not entitled to any defense or indemnification.
The case has been sent back to the Supreme Court in Queens County to finalize the judgment confirming that Utica First Insurance Company is not obligated to defend or indemnify Nino & Nino Corp. in the wrongful death lawsuit.