ACE Am. Ins. Co. v. Zurich Am. Ins.
Co.
No. 22-4054, 2024 WL 945246 (6th Cir. Mar. 5, 2024)
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated the
federal district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of
Discover Property & Casualty Insurance Company (Discover) and
Zurich American Insurance Company (Zurich) and against ACE American
Insurance Company (ACE), remanding the case to the district court.
ACE, Discover, and Zurich were primary insurers of Safelite Group,
Inc. (Safelite), a windshield repair company. The issue in the case
was whether ACE was entitled to equitable contribution against
Discover and Zurich for defense costs incurred solely by ACE.
In August 2015, Safelite was sued by other windshield repair
companies for Lanham Act violations, claiming Safelite's false
advertising harmed them. After Safelite satisfied its deductible,
ACE started paying Safelite's defense costs. Safelite did not
notify Discover or Zurich about the lawsuit. Discover