Pekin Insurance Company v. Hallmark Homes, L.L.C.

SUPREME COURT CASES

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State: Illinois

Court: 2nd District Appellate

Docket No: 2-08-0380 Rel

Case Date: 06/23/2009

Preview:No. 2--08--0380 Filed: 6-23-09 ______________________________________________________________________________ IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS SECOND DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________ PEKIN INSURANCE COMPANY, ) Appeal from the Circuit Court ) of Winnebago County. Plaintiff-Appellant, ) ) v. ) No. 06--MR--160 ) HALLMARK HOMES, L.L.C., and ) MICHAEL BREMER, ) Honorable ) Ronald L. Pirrello, Defendants-Appellees. ) Judge, Presiding. ______________________________________________________________________________ JUSTICE SCHOSTOK delivered the opinion of the court: The plaintiff, Pekin Insurance Company, filed a declaratory judgment action against the defendants, Hallmark Homes, L.L.C., and Michael Bremer. Pekin sought a declaration that it was not obliged to defend Hallmark Homes, which was an "additional insured" named on a policy that Pekin issued to another company, against a suit filed by Bremer. On April 21, 2008, the trial court entered an amended order granting judgment in favor of Hallmark Homes. Pekin appeals, and we affirm. Hallmark Homes was involved in a construction project. One of the other entities involved in the project, MC Builders, was the named insured under an insurance policy issued by Pekin. At Hallmark Homes' request, MC Builders obtained a certificate of insurance listing Hallmark Homes as an "additional insured" on its policy. The policy included an endorsement that read as follows:

2--08--0380 "1. Who is An Additional Insured (Section II) is amended to include as an insured any person or organization for whom you are performing operations when you and such person or organization have agreed in writing in a contract or agreement that such person or organization be added as an additional insured on your policy. Such person or organization is an additional insured only with respect to liability incurred solely as a result of some act or omission of the named insured and not for its own independent negligence or statutory violation." Bremer, an employee of a subcontractor on the project, was injured on the construction site and sued, among others, Hallmark Homes and MC Builders. The first two counts of the amended complaint were directed against Hallmark Homes and sought to hold Hallmark Homes liable under two theories of negligence, set out in sections 414 and 343 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts (Restatement). Section 414 of the Restatement states as follows: "One who entrusts work to an independent contractor, but who retains the control of any part of the work, is subject to liability for physical harm to others for whose safety the employer owes a duty to exercise reasonable care, which is caused by his failure to exercise his control with reasonable care." Restatement (Second) of Torts

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