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September 19, 2023
Do the Tort – Pay the Damages

No Indemnity for City’s Sole Negligence

Barry Zalma
Sep 18, 2023

Read the full article at https://lnkd.in/g9hwY9aB and see the full video at https://lnkd.in/g3PXWgE4 and at https://lnkd.in/geFe8U-B and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 4600 posts.

The City of Kansas City sought contractual indemnity against Occupational Health Centers of the Southwest, P.C. doing business as Concentra Medical Centers in the Circuit Court of Jackson County only to be refused by the trial court.

In City Of Kansas City, Missouri v. Occupational Health Centers Of The Southwest, P.C., d/b/a Concentra Medical Centers, No. WD85602, Court of Appeals of Missouri, Western District, Third Division (September 12, 2023) the City’s indemnity claim sought to shift to Concentra the costs associated with an employment discrimination claim which had been asserted against the City. The circuit court granted summary judgment to Concentra, and the City appealed.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In 2012, the City and Concentra executed Contract No. EV1227, for the performance of drug and alcohol testing on City employees. The City sent Shahidah Hazziez, a City employee, to a Concentra facility for a purportedly random drug screening. Hazziez later contended that she and other Muslim City employees had been disproportionately selected for such drug testing.

Concentra notified the City that Hazziez had refused to provide a compliant urine sample and had claimed that it was due to a bladder infection. After Hazziez was fired she sued the City, as well as a number of Concentra-affiliated entities and employees.

Hazziez settled her claims against the Concentra defendants. Thereafter a jury trial began against the City and defendants other than the City settled. After an eight-day trial, Hazziez asked the jury for damages because the City had discriminated against her. The only adverse employment action Hazziez identified was the termination of her employment with the City. The jury found in Hazziez’s favor and against the City on Hazziez’s claims for discrimination based on sex and a perceived disability. The jury awarded her compensatory damages of $172,000.00 but found that the City was not liable for punitive damages. The court subsequently awarded Hazziez attorney’s fees in the amount of $303,660.00, and costs of $10,130.85.

The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment on appeal and also awarded Hazziez her attorney’s fees on appeal. On remand the circuit court determined that Hazziez’s reasonable appeal-related fees and expenses were $88,896.00. The City satisfied the judgment in November 2020.

The City filed a third-party petition against Concentra for indemnification under Concentra’s contract for drug and alcohol testing services. The circuit court entered its judgment on July 29, 2022, granting Concentra’s motion for summary judgment and denying the City’s cross-motion. Ultimately, the circuit court concluded that Hazziez’s claims against the City were not based in whole or in part on Concentra’s actions, but that the City’s liability to Hazziez was based on its own actions, for which Concentra had no indemnification obligation.

DISCUSSION

The Court of Appeal focused on the plain and ordinary meaning of the contract itself and did not look to extrinsic evidence unless the terms of the contract were ambiguous.

The City was held liable for its own actions. The claims for which the City was held liable did not arise out of or result from acts or omissions caused in whole or in part by Concentra.

Concentra was required to indemnify the City for liability arising from Concentra’s actions, but not liability resulting from the City’s own conduct. Because the City’s liability to Hazziez arose solely from its own actions, not in whole or in part from Concentra’s actions, the circuit court properly granted summary judgment to Concentra on the City’s contractual indemnity claim.
ZALMA OPINION

Insurance is designed to protect an insured for damages resulting from its negligence. Indemnity agreements, like that in the City’s contract with Concentra, is designed only to provide indemnity if the City was held liable for the actions of Concentra, the indemnitor. Since only the acts of the City caused damage to Hazziez it had no right to indemnity from Concentra and could only be indemnified by its own insurance.

(c) 2023 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.

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Please tell your friends and colleagues about this blog and the videos and let them subscribe to the blog and the videos.

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00:07:17
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Hiscox Insurance Company (“Hiscox”) moved the USDC to Dismiss a suit for failure to state a claim because the insured reported its claim more than 60 days after expiration of the policy.

In Mluxe Williamsburg, LLC v. Hiscox Insurance Company, Inc., et al., No. 4:25-cv-00002, United States District Court, E.D. Missouri, Eastern Division (May 22, 2025) the trial court’s judgment was affirmed.

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Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter – June 1, 2025

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Posted on June 2, 2025 by Barry Zalma

Post 5087

See the full video at and at

Read the full article and the full issue of ZIFL June 1, 2025 at https://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ZIFL-06-01-2025.pdf

Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter – June 1, 2025

See the full video at https://lnkd.in/gw-Hgww9 and at https://lnkd.in/gF8QAq4d, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5050 posts.

ZIFL – Volume 29, Issue 11

The Source for the Insurance Fraud Professional

Read the full article and the full issue of ZIFL June 1, 2025 at https://lnkd.in/gTWZUnnF

Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter (ZIFL) continues its 29th year of publication dedicated to those involved in reducing the effect of insurance fraud. ZIFL is published 24 times a year by ClaimSchool and is written by Barry Zalma. It is provided FREE to anyone who visits the site at ...

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May 30, 2025
Plain Language of Policy Enforced

No Coverage if Home Vacant for More Than 60 Days

Failure to Respond To Counterclaim is an Admission of All Allegations

Post 5085

See the full video at https://lnkd.in/gbWPjHub and at https://lnkd.in/gZ9ztA-P, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5050 posts.

In Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company v. Rebecca Massey, Civil Action No. 2:25-cv-00124, United States District Court, S.D. West Virginia, Charleston Division (May 22, 2025) Defendant Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company's (“Nationwide”) motion for Default Judgment against Plaintiff Rebecca Massey (“Plaintiff”) for failure to respond to a counterclaim and because the claim was excluded by the policy.

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On February 26, 2022, Plaintiff's home was destroyed by a fire. At the time of this accident, Plaintiff had a home insurance policy with Nationwide. Plaintiff reported the fire loss to Nationwide, which refused to pay for the damages under the policy because the home had been vacant for more than 60 days.

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Zalma's Insurance Fraud Letter - May 15, 2025

ZIFL Volume 29, Issue 10
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See the full video at https://lnkd.in/gK_P4-BK and at https://lnkd.in/g2Q7BHBu, and at https://zalma.com/blog and at https://lnkd.in/gjyMWHff.

Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter (ZIFL) continues its 29th year of publication dedicated to those involved in reducing the effect of insurance fraud. ZIFL is published 24 times a year by ClaimSchool and is written by Barry Zalma. It is provided FREE to anyone who visits the site at http://zalma.com/zalmas-insurance-fraud-letter-2/ You can read the full issue of the May 15, 2025 issue at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ZIFL-05-15-2025.pdf
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Health Care Fraud Trial Results in Murder for Hire of Witness

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In United States of America v. Louis Age, Jr.; Stanton Guillory; Louis Age, III; Ronald Wilson, Jr., No. 22-30656, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit (April 25, 2025) the Fifth Circuit dealt with the ...

May 15, 2025
CGL Is Not a Medical Malpractice Policy

Professional Health Care Services Exclusion Effective

Post 5073

See the full video at https://lnkd.in/g-f6Tjm5 and at https://lnkd.in/gx3agRzi, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5050 posts.

This opinion is the recommendation of a Magistrate Judge to the District Court Judge and involves Travelers Casualty Insurance Company and its duty to defend the New Mexico Bone and Joint Institute (NMBJI) and its physicians in a medical negligence lawsuit brought by Tervon Dorsey.

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April 30, 2025
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A Heads I Win, Tails You Lose Story
Post 5062

Posted on April 30, 2025 by Barry Zalma

"This is a Fictionalized True Crime Story of Insurance Fraud that explains why Insurance Fraud is a “Heads I Win, Tails You Lose” situation for Insurers. The story is designed to help everyone to Understand How Insurance Fraud in America is Costing Everyone who Buys Insurance Thousands of Dollars Every year and Why Insurance Fraud is Safer and More Profitable for the ­­­Perpetrators than any Other Crime."

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The temptation to do everything outside the law was the downfall of the brothers Karamazov. The brothers had escaped prison in the old Soviet Union by immigrating to the United...

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