Davlar Corp. v. Superior Court of L.A. Cty.

This is a subrogation case arising out of a construction contract. Aerojet Electro Systems retained McAlpine & Salyer Construction, Inc. as a general contractor to perform construction work on Aerojet’s property and McAlpine, in turn, retained Davlar Corporation as its welding subcontractor. During construction, a fire at Aerojet damaged McAlpine’s property. McAlpine demanded reimbursement from Sun Insurance Company of New York, its insurer, and was paid about $260,000 by Wm. H. McGee & Co., Inc., Sun’s agent. McAlpine, in turn, assigned all of its claims to McGee. McGee then sued Davlar and its insurer, United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company (USF&G), for subrogation and as McAlpine’s assignee, alleging breach of contract, negligence and related claims (Davlar is the only defendant before us at this time). Ultimately, Davlar moved for summary judgment on the ground that McAlpine (McGee’s assignor) had waived its subrogation rights. The trial court denied the motion, and Davlar then filed the within petition for a writ of mandate, asking us to compel the court to grant summary judgment. We issued an order to show cause, stayed trial, received opposition, and set the…