The court of appeals affirmed a judgment of the district court. The court held that the district court properly dismissed as an “exceptional” case a federal action which mirrored a progressing state court action, and properly remanded a related declaratory judgment action to state court, in order to avoid piecemeal litigation in a complex insurance coverage dispute.
Vulcan Materials Company manufactures a dry-cleaning solvent called perchloroethylene (“PerSec”). R.R. Street & Co., Inc. distributed PerSec between the 1960s and 1990s. During this time, Vulcan named Street as an additional insured under its insurance policies, including an excess liability policy issued by Transport Insurance Company in 1981. Since the 1990’s, a number of environmental tort actions have been filed against Vulcan and Street alleging damage caused by the sale, distribution, use or handling of PerSec. Since 2005, the companies and their insurers have litigated over damages and defense costs associated with the tort actions.
