ABM Industries, Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance

*802 MEMORANDUM **

Under California law, an insurance company has a duty to defend an underlying suit when, comparing the allegations set forth in the underlying complaint and known facts extrinsic to the complaint with the policy’s terms, “they reveal a possibility that a claim may be covered by the policy.” Montrose Chem. Corp. v. Superior Court, 6 Cal.4th 287 , 24 Cal.Rptr.2d 467 , 861 P.2d 1153, 1157 (1993) (internal quotation marks omitted). Because the district court properly determined that the underlying complaint in this case gave rise to no potentially covered claims under the terms of National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh’s (National) general commercial liability policy, National was neither under a duty to defend ABM Industries Inc. (ABM) nor to indemnify ABM for the cost of litigating and ultimately settling the underlying action.

1. A de novo review of the record, see FDIC v. O’Melveny & Myers, 969 F.2d 744, 747 (9th Cir.1992), rev’d on other grounds, O’Melveny & Myers v. FDIC, 512 U.S. 79 , 114 S.Ct. 2048 , 129 L.Ed.2d 67 (1994), confirms that the underlying complaint did not state a claim potentially covered by the slander provision in the personal…