Vons Companies, Inc. v. United States Fire Insurance

*55 Opinion

Defendant United States Fire Insurance Company appeals from the judgment entered in a declaratory relief action ordering it to indemnify its insured, plaintiff The Vons Companies, Inc. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the judgment.

Facts and Procedural History

On April 20, 1992, Danny McKeman was seriously injured after he was struck by a pallet jack being operated by an employee of plaintiff and respondent The Vons Companies, Inc. (Vons). The accident occurred outside a Vons store in the common area of a shopping center owned by Vons’s landlord, Longs Drug Stores (Longs). McKeman sued Vons (the McKeman complaint), which in turn cross-complained against Longs, alleging that Longs had expressly agreed to indemnify Vons for injuries occurring in the common area and that Longs was partially to blame for the accident. Vons also cross-complained against an entity known as Garrick & Associates (Garrick), which managed the shopping center property, and another entity known as Astin, Carr & Associates (Astin, Carr).

As part of Vons’s lease agreement with Longs, Vons was named as an additional insured under Longs’s comprehensive general liability (CGL) policy…