Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. H-14-0725
05-24-2016
STARR INDEMNITY & LIABILITY COMPANY, Plaintiff, v. EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION, Defendant.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This insurance coverage dispute is before the Court on the Motion to Lift Stay and Transfer [Doc. # 39] filed by Starr Indemnity & Liability Company ("Starr"), to which Exxon Mobil Corporation ("Exxon") filed a Response [Doc. # 40], and Starr filed a Reply [Doc. # 43]. Based on the Court's review of the record, the Court denies the Motion to Lift Stay and Transfer
In this lawsuit, Starr seeks a declaratory judgment that Exxon is not an additional insured under insurance policies it issued to Savage Refinery Services, LLC ("Savage"). By Memorandum and Order [Doc. # 32] entered September 17, 2014, the Court stayed and administratively closed this case pending a final decision in the related state court lawsuit, Roberts v. Exxon Mobil Corp., Cause No. 2013-03033 (the "Roberts Suit"), filed by a Savage employee injured while working at the Exxon Baytown Refinery. Starr asks the Court to lift the stay because the state district court in the Roberts Suit has entered final judgment. Additionally, Starr asks the Court to transfer this case to the docket of the Honorable David Hittner to be consolidated with ExxonMobil Corp. v. Starr Indemnity & Liability Co., Civil Action No. H-15-1555 (the "Exxon Suit"). One of the many issues in the Exxon Suit is whether Exxon is an additional insured under the Starr insurance policies issued to Savage.
The Roberts Suit is currently on appeal to the First Court of Appeals, and therefore, the rulings in that case are not yet final. Because the Roberts Suit has not reached final conclusion, it is hereby
ORDERED that the Motion to Lift Stay and Transfer [Doc. # 39] is DENIED. Any request for this lawsuit to be consolidated into the Exxon Suit should be directed to Judge Hittner, who previously denied Starr's request to transfer the Exxon Suit to the undersigned.
SIGNED at Houston, Texas, this 24th day of May, 2016.
/s/_________
NANCY F. ATLAS
SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE