Vicarious Liability Means Secondary Coverage, Irrespective Of General Rules Governing Primary And Excess Policies

On February 28, 2013, the Fourth District California Court of Appeal issued a significant decision regarding the priority of coverage in matters involving vicarious liability of employers for their negligent employees.  In GuideOne Mut. Ins. Group v. Utica Nat'l Ins. Group , __ Cal. App. 4th __ (2013), the court reversed a summary judgment entered in favor of GuideOne Mutual Insurance Company ("GuideOne") in a contribution action filed by Utica National Insurance Group ("Utica").  The Court held that because primary and umbrella policies issued by Utica were triggered only based on an employer's vicarious liability for a negligent employee, while primary and umbrella GuideOne policies actually insured against the employee's negligence, both GuideOne policies were primary to both Utica policies.