Justice Francesca Connolly
In a subrogation action, Castle Oil moved for summary judgment dismissing insurer Nationwide's—as subrogee of homeowner Subin—complaint, arguing it owed no duty to maintain Subin's heating system. Castle also argued the contract between it and Subin excluded damages resulting from "puffbacks," and argued it could not be held vicariously liable for work of subcontractor, Dynamic Plumbing. Nationwide argued Castle was negligent in servicing Subin's oil burner and delivering oil, which resulted in property damage to her home, that Nationwide remedied after Castle failed to do so. The court found the contract between Castle and Dynamic provided that service to Castle referrals was to be made in "unmarked" vans, indicating Castle intended to solely hold itself out to its customers as the service provider. It found Castle and Dynamic were united in interest, ruling the relation-back doctrine applied, thus service of process on Dynamic related back to the timely commenced action against Castle, and the statute of limitations had not expire. The court also stated defendant failed to meet its prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment by tendering sufficient evidence to show the absence of any material issues of fact, denying Castle's motion.
