DISCLAIMER: The following unofficial case summaries are prepared by the clerk's office
as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.
153573P.pdf 01/12/2017 Barbara Williams v. Employers Mutual Casualty Co.
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 15-3573
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis
[PUBLISHED] [Kelly, Author, with Wollman and Arnold, Circuit Judges]
Civil case - Insurance. The consent judgment in this matter was a final
decision because it unconditionally disposed of the last of plaintiff's
unresolved claims, and the court had jurisdiction over the appeal of the
consent judgment; plaintiff had not waived her right to appeal the consent
judgment; earlier judgment on the pleadings did not end the case and the
matter was not final for purposes of appeal until the consent judgment was
entered; it is clear from the face of plaintiff's complaint that she
sought relief on behalf of the class of the residents of the Collier
mobile home park, and the district court did not err in determining that
the matter was a class action and that it had jurisdiction under CAFA; the
district court did not err in determining the insurers did not have a duty
to defend or indemnify Collier in the original action brought by
plaintiffs; the plaintiffs' claims concerning contaminated drinking water
were covered by pollution exemptions in the policies as there was no
dispute that the contaminants in the water - radium and coliform bacteria
- were pollutants within the meaning of the policies; the claim that
Collier failed to build certain promised amenities at the mobile home park
states a claim for breach of contract and none of the policies at issue
covered damages from breach of contract; because the insurers had no duty
to defend, under Missouri law they had no duty to indemnify.