ST. LOUIS – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri recently denied motions for summary judgment from both sides in a dispute among providers of field labor services for cable operations over legal responsibility of a cable technician who "violently and sexually assaulted" a cable customer.
In an order dated Oct. 12, U.S. District Judge Audrey Fleissig said that given the broad language of the parties' master service agreement indemnification clause and disputed questions of fact in the case, "the court cannot conclude that either party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law."
Communications Unlimited Contracting Services Inc. and its insurers, Charter Oak Fire Insurance Co. and St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co., sued Broadband Infrastructure Connection LLC and its insurer, Mid-Continent Casualty Co., in 2016 after "Jane Doe" filed suit in state court against Charter Cable, CU Contracting, Broadband, regarding the hiring of James Helderle, who allegedly sexually assaulted Doe..
Doe asserted claims of negligent hiring, negligent supervision and negligent failure to warn.
CU Contracting sought defense and indemnification from the defendants, but Mid-Continent rejected the demand, the ruling states.
It goes on to state that Doe reached a confidential settlement with Charter, CU Contracting and Travelers, which funded most of the settlement payment and defense costs.
Broadband then settled with Doe separately, and ultimately plaintiffs filed their diversity action in federal court seeking indemnification and equitable contribution from defendants.