IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
NAVIGATORS INSURANCE §
COMPANY, RSUI INDEMNITY §
COMPANY, and BERKLEY § No. 144, 2018
INSURANCE COMPANY, §
§ Court Below—Superior Court of
Plaintiffs Below, § the State of Delaware
Appellants, §
§ C.A. No. N16C-01-104
v. §
§
DAVID H. MURDOCK, C. §
MICHAEL CARTER, DOLE FOOD §
COMPANY, INC. and DFC §
HOLDINGS, LLC, §
§
Defendants Below, §
Appellees. §
Submitted: March 28, 2018
Decided: April 6, 2018
Before STRINE, Chief Justice; VALIHURA and VAUGHN, Justices.
ORDER
This 6th day of April 2018, having considered the notice and supplemental
notice of appeal from an interlocutory order under Supreme Court Rule 42, it appears
to the Court that:
(1) This interlocutory appeal arises from a Superior Court opinion granting
in part and denying in part the plaintiffs below-appellants’, Navigators Insurance
Company, RSUI Indemnity Company, and Berkley Insurance Company (“the
Insurers”), motion for summary judgment.1 The Insurers request an interlocutory
1
Arch Ins. Co. v. Murdock, 2018 WL 1129110 (Del. Super. Ct. Mar. 1, 2018).
appeal from the parts of the opinion holding: (i) Delaware law applied to the
directors and officers liability policies at issue; and (ii) Delaware public policy did
not prohibit the Insurers from paying for the fraud of the insureds.
(2) On March 9, 2017, the Insurers filed an application for certification to
take an interlocutory appeal. The defendants below-appellees, David H. Murdock,
C. Michael Carter, Dole Food Company, Inc. and DFS Holdings, LLC (“the
Insureds”), opposed the application. On March 28, 2018, the Superior Court denied
the application after determining certification was not warranted under the principles
and criteria of Supreme Court Rule 42(b).2
(3) Applications for interlocutory review are addressed to the sound
discretion of the Court.3 In the exercise of our discretion, we have concluded that
the application for interlocutory review does not meet the strict standards for
certification under Rule 42(b) and should be refused.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the interlocutory
appeal is REFUSED.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Karen L. Valihura
Justice
2
Arch Ins. Co. v. Murdock, 2018 WL 1560294 (Del. Super. Ct. Mar. 28, 2018). The Superior
Court corrected the order on April 2, 2018.
3
Supr. Ct. R. 42(d)(v).
2