Joe Cotton Ford, Inc. v. Illinois Emcasco Insurance

Plaintiff Joe Cotton Ford, Inc. (Cotton), appeals an order of the circuit court of Cook County granting summary judgment to defendant Illinois Emcasco Insurance Company (EIC) in a declaratory judgment action. For the following reasons, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

The record on appeal shows that Cotton owns and operates an automobile dealership in Carol Stream, Illinois. On September 1, 2003, Cotton’s dealership manager, Ron Drendel, admitted that over a period of several years he had removed trade-in cars from the lot for his own benefit. Drendel concealed these activities by failing to update…