Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Release Comp. Bd. v. Std. Oil Co.

Citations

• 2019 Ohio 2455

Syllabus

Fraud breach of contract unjust enrichment negligent misrepresentation statutory interpretation settlement negotiations Evid.R. 408 summary judgment Civ.R. 56. Plaintiff alleged numerous causes of action against defendant in connection with payments plaintiff made to defendant to reimburse defendant for the costs of cleaning up pollution. Plaintiff alleges that those costs were covered by defendant's insurance policy and defendant was therefore ineligible to receive reimbursement. Plaintiff asserts that defendant fraudulently represented that it did not have insurance to cover the cleanup costs. Defendant asserted counterclaims for breach of contract and unjust enrichment. Defendant moved for summary judgment on all of plaintiff's claims, and plaintiff moved for summary judgment on defendant's request for attorney's fees. The court granted summary judgment to defendant and denied plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment. The court found that defendants presented evidence that the cleanup costs at issue were not covered by insurance, and plaintiffs failed to point to any insurance policy that would have covered the costs. In making this determination, the court refused to admit evidence submitted by plaintiff concerning settlement negotiations between defendant and its insurers. The court determined that such evidence was inadmissible under Evid.R. 408. The court determined that genuine issues of material fact existed concerning whether defendant may be eligible for attorney's fees.