H.P. Hood LLC v. Allianz Global Risks US Insurance Company (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-173-15)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 14-P-1605 Appeals Court H.P. HOOD LLC vs. ALLIANZ GLOBAL RISKS US INSURANCE COMPANY. No. 14-P-1605. Suffolk. September 2, 2015. – November 2, 2015. Present: Meade, Wolohojian, & Milkey, JJ. Contract, Insurance. Insurance, “All risk” policy, Construction of policy, Coverage, Property damage. Practice, Civil, Summary judgment. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on November 5, 2010. The case was heard by Christine M. Roach, J., on motions for summary judgment. Steven L. Schreckinger for the plaintiff. Kristin A. Heres for the defendant. MILKEY, J. Plaintiff H.P. Hood LLC (Hood) suffered various losses when a bottled beverage it was producing for another company failed certain quality control measures. At issue is whether those losses are covered by the “all risks” property insurance policy that Hood had purchased from the defendant, Allianz Global Risks US Insurance Company (Allianz). On cross motions for summary judgment, a Superior Court judge ruled in Allianz’s favor, concluding that Hood’s losses fell within certain exclusions to the policy. Because we agree that any potentially covered losses are excluded, we affirm. Background. The product. The essential facts are not in dispute. The product at issue is a milk-based specialty drink marketed by Abbott Laboratories (Abbott) under the trade name Myoplex. Myoplex is a “shelf stable” beverage, meaning that it is designed to require refrigeration only after its bottles are opened. In order to ensure that the product does not spoil before that, it must be manufactured and bottled under strict aseptic conditions, and its bottles must stay hermetically sealed until consumers open them. The contract between Hood and Abbott. In November of 2008, Abbott and Hood entered into a contract under which Hood would produce at least forty million bottles of Myoplex in the first year. The contract, which was termed a “contract packaging agreement,” required Hood to conduct quality control testing. Attachments to the contract, and subsequent written and oral agreements, added specificity to the particular tests and protocols that Hood agreed to use. Some of the required testing was designed to ensure that the Myoplex was contaminant-free during the production and bottling process (that is, up until the point the bottles were ready for distribution). None of that testing revealed any contamination or other problems in any of the relevant bottles. Other testing was designed to ensure that the […]