Justice Saliann Scarpulla
One Beacon Insurance covered luxury retailer Dooney & Bourke Inc. (D&B), which leased ground floor commercial space in a building owned by defendant French Institute (FIAF). FIAF occupied portions of the second and third floors, and, at the time of the incident, some portion of FIAF’s second floor space was being renovated by Lehr Construction Corp. Lehr’s subcontractor, React Industries Inc., was installing new heating and air conditioning equipment in the building as part of the renovation. In 2005, a sprinkler pipe in FIAF’s second floor library, which is located above D&B’s store, froze and burst. As a result, water entered D&B’s retail store and damaged its property. One Beacon paid D&B for its loss under its policy and then sought to recoup its payment to D&B from FIAF, Lehr, and React, the parties allegedly responsible for the loss. The court denied FIAF’s motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and all cross-claims against it, finding the existence of questions of fact whether the negligent actions or omissions of its employees resulted in the pipe freezing and bursting, which caused the loss.
