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No Indemnity for City\'s Sole Negligence\\nThe City of Kansas City sought contractual indemnity against \\nOccupational Health Centers of the Southwest, P.C. doing business as \\nConcentra Medical Centers in the Circuit Court of Jackson County only to\\n be refused by the trial court.\\n\\nIn City Of Kansas City, Missouri v. Occupational Health Centers Of The \\nSouthwest, P.C., d/b/a Concentra Medical Centers, No. WD85602, Court of \\nAppeals of Missouri, Western District, Third Division (September 12, \\n2023) the City\'s indemnity claim sought to shift to Concentra the costs \\nassociated with an employment discrimination claim which had been \\nasserted against the City. The circuit court granted summary judgment to\\n Concentra, and the City appealed.\\n\\nFACTUAL BACKGROUND\\n\\nIn 2012, the City and Concentra executed Contract No. EV1227, for the \\nperformance of drug and alcohol testing on City employees. The City sent\\n Shahidah Hazziez, a City employee, to a Concentra facility for a \\npurportedly random drug screening. Hazziez later contended that she and \\nother Muslim City employees had been disproportionately selected for \\nsuch drug testing.\\n\\nConcentra notified the City that Hazziez had refused to provide a \\ncompliant urine sample and had claimed that it was due to a bladder \\ninfection. After Hazziez was fired she sued the City, as well as a \\nnumber of Concentra-affiliated entities and employees.\\n\\nHazziez settled her claims against the Concentra defendants. Thereafter a\\n jury trial began against the City and defendants other than the City \\nsettled. After an eight-day trial, Hazziez asked the jury for damages \\nbecause the City had discriminated against her. The only adverse \\nemployment action Hazziez identified was the termination of her \\nemployment with the City. The jury found in Hazziez\'s favor and against \\nthe City on Hazziez\'s claims for discrimination based on sex and a \\nperceived disability. The jury awarded her compensatory damages of \\n$172,000.00 but found that the City was not liable for punitive damages.\\n The court subsequently awarded Hazziez attorney\'s fees in the amount of\\n $303,660.00, and costs of $10,130.85.\\n\\nThe City filed a third-party petition against Concentra for \\nindemnification under Concentra\'s contract for drug and alcohol testing \\nservices. The circuit court entered its judgment on July 29, 2022, \\ngranting Concentra\'s motion for summary judgment and denying the City\'s \\ncross-motion. Ultimately, the circuit court concluded that Hazziez\'s \\nclaims against the City were not based in whole or in part on \\nConcentra\'s actions, but that the City\'s liability to Hazziez was based \\non its own actions, for which Concentra had no indemnification \\nobligation.\\n\\nDISCUSSION\\n\\nThe Court of Appeal focused on the plain and ordinary meaning of the \\ncontract itself and did not look to extrinsic evidence unless the terms \\nof the contract were ambiguous.\\n\\nThe City was held liable for its own actions. The claims for which the \\nCity was held liable did not arise out of or result from\\xa0 acts or \\nomissions caused in whole or in part by Concentra.\\n\\nConcentra was required to indemnify the City for liability arising from \\nConcentra\'s actions, but not liability resulting from the City\'s own \\nconduct. Because the City\'s liability to Hazziez arose solely from its \\nown actions, not in whole or in part from Concentra\'s actions, the \\ncircuit court properly granted summary judgment to Concentra on the \\nCity\'s contractual indemnity claim.\\n\\nZALMA OPINION\\n\\nInsurance is designed to protect an insured for damages resulting from \\nits negligence. Indemnity agreements, like that in the City\'s contract \\nwith Concentra, is designed only to provide indemnity if the City was \\nheld liable for the actions of Concentra, the indemnitor. Since only the\\n acts of the City caused damage to Hazziez it had no right to indemnity \\nfrom Concentra and could only be indemnified by its own insurance.\\n\\n(c) 2023 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.\\n\\n