Tacoma Electric Supply Inc. v. Atlantic Mutual Insurance

*568 MEMORANDUM *

OVERVIEW

Tacoma Electric Supply, Inc. (“Tacoma”) appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of its property insurer, Atlantic Mutual Insurance Co. (“Atlantic”). Tacoma argues that the earth movement exclusion Atlantic relied on to deny coverage for damage to Tacoma’s building is ambiguous because a reasonable reading of the exclusion covers only earth movement with observable ground surface manifestations. Tacoma contends that because there was no observable effect on the ground surface, summary judgment should have been granted in its favor and Atlantic must pay its damage claim. In the alternative, Tacoma argues that a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether earth movement or bearing failure caused the damage. Because we agree that a genuine issue of material fact exists, we reverse the district court’s grant of summary judgment and remand for further proceedings.

DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

We review a grant of summary judgment de novo. Guebara v. Allstate Ins. Co., 237 F.3d 987, 992 (9th Cir.2001). We must determine, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Tacoma, whether there are any genuine issues of…