CONTRACTUAL LIABILITY: Superior Court finds duty to defend and indemnify under contract where allegations of complaint allege negligent acts that could be attributable to duties of defendant under security contract

The court found that a security company breached its duty to defend and indemnify a mall by failing to accept the tender of a defense and failing to indemnify for damages paid to the estate of the deceased claimant. Both the plaintiff mall and defendant security company filed motions for summary judgment on the issue of duty to defend and indemnify. The court cited the law that a duty to defend exists where the pleadings allege “a covered occurrence, even though the facts outside the four corners of those pleadings indicate that the claim may be meritless or not covered.”  The court looked to the language of the security contract, which was found to be clear and unambiguous as to the duties of the security company.  The court reasoned that the allegations of the complaint included negligent acts or omissions attributable to the security company’s contractual duties.  Brass Mill Center, LLC v. Subway Real Estate Corp., Superior Court, judicial district of Waterbury, Docket No. CV16-6031856-S (June 11, 2020)