Insurance Claim – Garnishment Order

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Carmine Greene, et al., v. Westfield Insurance Company

Case No.: 19-2260

Officials: FLAUM, ROVNER, and SCUDDER, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Insurance Claim – Garnishment Order

This appeal represents the culmination of more than ten years of litigation between a group of neighbors in Elkhart, Indiana and a nearby wood recycling facility. The neighbors alleged that VIM Recycling’s waste disposal practices exposed them to dust and odors in violation of federal environmental law. They also brought state tort law claims for the resulting loss of use and enjoyment of their property and adverse health effects. At certain points the defendants—VIM Recycling, a related entity, and their owner, Kenneth Will—successfully fended off the neighbors’ claims. But sometimes they did nothing at all. These litigation choices eventually led to a $50.56 million default judgment against VIM.

What began as a case about environmental pollution has evolved into a joint garnishment action against VIM’s insurer, Westfield Insurance, to satisfy some of that $50.56 million judgment. Now that the neighbors share their litigation interests with VIM—both want Westfield to pay the judgment— they had to adjust some of their positions to argue that VIM’s Westfield policies apply. The neighbors labor to distance themselves from certain facts they previously pleaded were true to show that VIM did not know the extent of the pollution at the time its Westfield insurance policy went into effect. This task proves too difficult. Because two exceptions in the insurance agreement apply, we affirm summary judgment for Westfield Insurance.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.