Windsor Food Quality v. Underwriters of Lloyds etc.

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff and appellant Windsor Food Quality Company, Ltd. (Windsor)

manufactured Jose Ole frozen food products, using ground beef supplied by

Westland/Hallmark Meat Company (Westland). In 2008, after a voluntary United States

Department of Agriculture (USDA) recall of Westland beef, Windsor made a claim under

its Contamination Products Insurance policy,1 issued by defendants and respondents—

QBE Insurance (Europe) Limited and Underwriters of Lloyds, London (Lloyds). After

Lloyds denied coverage on various grounds, Windsor sued for breach of contract and bad

faith. The trial court granted Lloyds’s summary judgment motion, finding no triable

issues of material fact and no coverage.

Windsor appeals, arguing that it is entitled to insurance coverage based on a

reasonable interpretation of Lloyds’s policy. Windsor also contends that whether Lloyds

acted in bad faith remains a triable issue of fact, which only a jury can resolve.

Lloyds responds that Westland’s ground beef was not an “Insured Product” under

the policy and—even if the ground beef was an insured product—it was not “tampered

with” or the tampering was not “malicious.” Finally, Lloyds contends…