Culligan

This is an appeal by plaintiffs from a judgment for defendant State Compensation Insurance Fund (State Fund) entered after the superior court granted summary judgment. The action, brought by Thomas J. Culligan III, individually and doing business as Culligan Management Company (collectively Culligan), grows out of State Fund’s refusal to defend or indemnify Culligan, under a workers’ compensation and employer’s liability insurance policy, in a third party action brought against Culligan by former Culligan employees. We will affirm the judgment.

Background

Culligan conducted business at offices in a building at 3700 S. El Camino Real, San Mateo, where it employed clerical and bookkeeping workers, among them Nancy Landry, Patricia Ciampi and Cindy Drury (collectively the workers).

In an action filed in July 1993 (Landry v. Culligan Management Corp. (Super. Ct. San Mateo County, 1993, No. 384294)) (the Landry action), the workers sued Culligan. In a first amended complaint filed that December, they alleged (1) breach of employment contract and wrongful termination, (2) breach of the implied good faith covenant, and (3) tortious wrongful discharge. The essence of their…