Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Liberty Mutual Insurance

ORDER (1) DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO TRANSFER AND (2) GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Presently before the Court is Liberty Mutual’s (“defendant”) motion to transfer the case to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404 (a) (Doc. Nos.8-9), and Costco Wholesale’s (“plaintiff’) motion for partial summary judgment on its claim for breach of the contractual duty to defend (Doc. No. 10).

A. Factual Background

1. CDS Agreement

Plaintiff, along with The Price Company (“Price”), owns and operates a nationwide warehouse merchandising business. (Comply 9.) Vendors use plaintiffs warehouses for product demonstrations. (Id.) Club Demonstration Services (“CDS”) is a corporation in the business of organizing and conducting product demonstrations. (Id. ¶ 10.) On September 4, 2000, plaintiff, Price, and CDS entered a one-year agreement allowing CDS to perform food product demonstrations at plaintiffs warehouses nationwide (“CDS Agreement”). (Id. ¶ 12 & Exhibit A.)

Under its “Insurance and Indemnification” section, the CDS Agreement obligated CDS to

(Id., Exhibit A, ¶ 8(a).) Specifically, CDS would procure a liability insurance policy with…