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Steven Gonzales v. Dr. James Geisler and Progressive Security Insurance Company
State: Louisiana
Court: Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Clerk
Docket No: 46,501-CA
Case Date: 09/21/2011
Plaintiff: Steven Gonzales
Defendant: Dr. James Geisler and Progressive Security Insurance Company
Preview:Judgment rendered September 21, 2011. Application for rehearing may be filed within the delay allowed by art. 2166, La. C.C.P.

No. 46,501-CA

COURT OF APPEAL SECOND CIRCUIT STATE OF LOUISIANA ***** STEVEN GONZALES versus DR. JAMES GEISLER AND PROGRESSIVE SECURITY INSURANCE COMPANY Defendants-Appellants Plaintiff-Appellee

***** Appealed from the Fourth Judicial District Court for the Parish of Ouachita, Louisiana Trial Court No. 2010-0824 Honorable Frederic C. Amman, III, Judge ***** BLUE WILLIAMS, L.L.P. By: Thomas G. Buck David B. Parnell, Jr. John C. Henry Brett W. Tweedel DAVENPORT, FILES & KELLY, L.L.P. By: M. Shane Craighead Counsel for DefendantAppellant Economy Premier Assurance Company

Counsel for DefendantAppellee Dr. James Geisler and Progressive Security Insurance Company Counsel for PlaintiffAppellee Steven Gonzales

MCKEITHEN, RYLAND, CHAMPAGNE & DOMANGUE By: Louis V. Champagne Dina F. Domangue Ashley P. Thomas *****

Before GASKINS, MOORE and LOLLEY, JJ.

GASKINS, J. Economy Premier Assurance Company ("Economy")1 appeals from a trial court ruling which granted summary judgment in favor of its insured, Dr. James Geisler, holding that Economy provided coverage to him under the facts of the instant case. We reverse and remand. FACTS On April 3, 2009, Dr. Geisler was operating a 2007 GMC Yukon XL in the parking lot of E. A. Conway Memorial Hospital when he struck a paint or push cart, which then hit Steven Gonzales. Mr. Gonzales claims injury from the incident. The GMC Yukon was owned by Geisler Funeral Homes, a separate corporate entity, and operated by Dr. Geisler with that company's full permission and authorization. The vehicle was insured by Progressive Security Insurance Company ("Progressive"). In March 2010, Mr. Gonzales filed suit against Dr. Geisler and Progressive. Mr. Gonzales later amended his petition to add Economy, an insurance company that issued a personal automobile liability policy to Dr. Geisler and his wife for a 2007 BMW station wagon. In its answer, Economy denied that the Yukon driven by Dr. Geisler at the time of the accident was an insured vehicle under its policy. Dr. Geisler filed a motion for summary judgment and/or for declaratory judgment, asserting that the corporate-owned Yukon was covered under the Economy policy because the Yukon met the "exception"

In the record, Economy is sometimes referred to as "MetLife" or "Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Services, Inc."

1

to the "non-owned automobile" definition. The Economy policy stated, in relevant part: We will pay damages for bodily injury and property damage to others for which the law holds an insured responsible because of an accident which results from the ownership, maintenance or use of a covered automobile, a non-owned automobile or a trailer while being used with a covered automobile or non-owned automobile. On the same page, the policy defined "non-owned automobile" as: 1. [A]n automobile which is not owned by, furnished to, or made available for regular use to you or any resident in your household. EXCEPTION: An automobile owned by, furnished to, or made available for regular use to any resident in your household, is considered a non-owned automobile when used by you. [Emphasis theirs.] Dr. Geisler and his wife are listed on the declarations page of the policy as the named insureds. Therefore, under the general definitions section of the policy, the terms "you" and "your" in the policy refer to them. Essentially, Dr. Geisler argued that coverage was afforded to the Yukon as a non-owned automobile under the policy exclusion because
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