SC06-2524 – Maria N. Garcia v. Federal Insurance Company

State: Florida

Docket No: SC06-2524

Case Date: 10/25/2007

Preview:Supreme Court of Florida
____________ No. SC06-2524 ____________ MARIA N. GARCIA, Appellant, vs. FEDERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee. [October 25, 2007] CANTERO, J. In this case, we must determine an insurance policy's scope of coverage for an additional insured. Appellant, Maria Garcia, seeks coverage under a homeowner's insurance policy issued to her employer by Appellee, Federal Insurance Company ("Federal"). The policy extends coverage to "any other person or organization with respect to liability because of acts or omissions" of the named insured. Reviewing the case on appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit noted that "the dispute between Garcia and Federal hinges on whether the additional insured clause covers only the additional insured's vicarious liability for the acts of the named insured." Garcia v. Fed. Ins. Co., 473

F.3d 1131, 1133 (11th Cir. 2006). Garcia argues that Federal's policy is ambiguous and should be construed to cover her own acts as well as any vicarious liability for the named insured's negligence. Because this is an issue determinative of a cause pending in the Eleventh Circuit for which there appears to be no controlling precedent, that court certified two questions to us: 1. Is an insurance policy that defines a covered person as "any other person with respect to liability because of acts or omissions of the insured" ambiguous? 2. Does an insurance policy providing coverage for an additional insured "with respect to liability because of acts or omissions" of the named insured limit coverage to instances in which the additional insured is vicariously liable for acts of the named insured? Id. at 1136. We have exercised our discretionary jurisdiction to answer them. See art. V,

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