Zurich American Insurance Co. v. Infrastructure Engineering, Inc.

Plaintiff, an insurance company in the status of a subrogee, filed a lawsuit against the defendant, a subcontractor on a construction project, for breach of contract alleging that the defendant’s designs caused building damage that resulted in the original insurance claim. The circuit court granted summary judgment to the defendant but the appellate court affirmed, finding that plaintiff could act as a subrogee even though its claimed status as subrogee was based on a payment made to a third party. The supreme court affirmed, finding that nothing about the facts precluded the plaintiff’s subrogation action where there was an insured loss compensated by the plaintiff insurance company. (THEIS, NEVILLE, HOLDER WHITE, CUNNINGHAM, ROCHFORD, and O’BRIEN, concurring)