Uniwest Construction, Inc. v. Amtech Elevator Services, Inc.

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Uniwest Construction, Inc. v. Amtech Elevator Services, Inc.

Citations: 714 S.E.2d 560; 281 Va. 509Docket: 091495

Court: Supreme Court of Virginia; April 21, 2011; Virginia; State Supreme Court

Original Court Document: View Document

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In the Supreme Court of Virginia, on April 21, 2011, the court addressed petitions for rehearing related to the case between Uniwest Construction, Inc. and Amtech Elevator Services, Inc. (now ABM Amtech, Inc.), as well as Federal Insurance Company. A prior ruling from September 16, 2010, affirmed in part and reversed in part the Circuit Court's judgment against Amtech, leading to a remand for further proceedings.

Uniwest and Federal Insurance filed petitions questioning whether claims by Bruce and Stinson constituted liability arising from operations conducted by Amtech. The circuit court had incorrectly ruled that Uniwest was not an insured under Subdivision E-7 of Amtech's insurance policy, which prevented it from addressing the scope of liability under that subdivision. Consequently, the court determined the issues raised in the rehearing were preserved and remanded the matter for consideration of their legal and factual validity.

The court clarified that Uniwest is an insured under both Subdivision E-4 and E-7 of the policy and withdrew a previous part of its ruling regarding relative liability's relevance to Subdivision E-7. On remand, the circuit court is instructed to evaluate Amtech's liability for failing to defend and indemnify Uniwest, and to determine AIU's liability under both relevant subdivisions. If damages are warranted for Uniwest and its insurers, they should include both the settlement with Bruce and Stinson and the costs of defense in the related lawsuit. The order is to be published in the Virginia Reports and certified to the circuit court.