State v. Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.

OPINION

COMPTON, Justice.

This appeal raises the question whether a Dalton Highway permittee must indemnify the state for its costs and attorney’s fees incurred in the successful defense of a negligence claim. The superior court ruled that the state is not entitled to indemnification. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Cleofe Freeman, an Alyeska Pipeline Service Company (Alyeska) employee, sued the state when she was injured on the Dalton Highway, alleging that the state negligently failed to control dust on the highway. Freeman v. State, 705 P.2d 918…