FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- An insurance company is refusing to pay $1.6 million to settle a lawsuit between a shipbuilder and Tiger Woods over use of the golfer's name and photograph of his luxury yacht "Privacy" to promote the company.
St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. of Minnesota filed its own lawsuit Thursday in federal court contending that Christensen Shipyards Ltd. agreed to the settlement on April 24 without the approval of the insurance company.
St. Paul is asking a federal judge to declare that the settlement with Woods should be paid entirely by Vancouver, Wash.-based Christensen or that St. Paul's share of the payment be limited to a $1 million cap cited in its policy with Christensen.
Woods and his wife, Swedish model Elin Nordegren, sued Christensen in October 2004 claiming that the shipbuilder had breached its contract by improperly using the names and images of Woods, his wife and the yacht for its own commercial gain. The contract said Christensen was not to publicly disclose the name of the yacht or the yacht's owner.
Christensen's attorney in Miami, Leslie Lott, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment Friday.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
