Burt v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co.

720 F. Supp. 82, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11487, 1989 WL 111564
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedSeptember 26, 1989
DocketCiv. A. CA 3-89-0731-C
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 720 F. Supp. 82 (Burt v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Burt v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 720 F. Supp. 82, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11487, 1989 WL 111564 (N.D. Tex. 1989).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

CUMMINGS, District Judge.

Coming on for consideration are some five motions, including the motion of defendants Aetna Casualty and Surety Co., The Standard Fire Insurance Co., and The Auto Insurance Company of Hartford for summary judgment. After reviewing the motions, briefs, affidavits, depositions, and the record in this case, the Court is of the opinion that the motion for summary judgment should be granted as follows. The remaining motions will be dealt with after the following discussion.

FACTS

All causes of action asserted by the plaintiffs are predicated upon the existence of a personal liability insurance policy afforded to Janet Ball, as an insured, by Coverage D — Personal Liability Section II — Liability Section of the Texas Standard Homeowners’ Policy, issued by the defendant The Automobile Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut. Except as to matters that are excluded, Coverage D obligates the insurance company to pay on behalf of the insured all sums (not exceeding the policy limit of $100,000) which the insured shall become obligated to pay as damages because of bodily injury, and to pay certain additional amounts, and defend any suits against the insured alleging such bodily injury and seeking damage under the terms of the policy. Coverage D contains, among other exclusions, the following:

EXCLUSIONS — Coverage D shall not apply:
1. to any business pursuits of an Insured except activities therein which are ordinarily incidental to non-business pursuits;
* # * * * *
5. to bodily injury or property damage caused intentionally by or at the direction of the Insured.

The summary judgment evidence shows that the recovery sought by the plaintiffs is based upon the provisions of Coverage D of the policy issued to Jan Ball. Further there is no dispute that Jan Ball caused bodily injury to the minor plaintiff, Denver Charles Burt, while she was caring for him in her home.

The insurance companies have moved for summary judgment on the basis of both of the exclusions stated above. However, plaintiffs argue that the injuries suffered by the minor plaintiff, Denver Charles Burt, were not intended by Jan Ball and further that Jan Ball was not involved in a business pursuit such as to exclude coverage under the policy due to the exclusion enumerated 1.

The undisputed summary judgment evidence shows Denver Charles Burt was bom in September, 1986, and placed in a child day care center in Arlington, Texas, in November, 1986, under an arrangement where a fee of approximately $85 per week was paid to the day care center for providing the services for the care of Denver Charles Burt. In February, 1987, David and Monica Burt moved to Cleburne, Texas, along with Denver, and because both parents were employed, began looking for a new day care facility to keep Denver while they were at work. David Burt went to the home of Jan Ball after she was recommended to them as a prospective care provider for Denver and arranged for her *84 to provide day care in her home during the weekdays while the Burts were at work for a charge of $55 per week.

At that time, Jan Ball had two small children of her own, and in addition, she kept on a part-time basis another child. The Burts had never had a social relationship with Jan Ball or her husband and had no other relationship with them. In April, 1987, the Burts agreed to and did increase Jan Ball’s weekly compensation regarding the care provided to Denver to $60 per week, in consideration of her agreement to keep the child longer hours. Thus this arrangement whereby Jan Ball provided day care for Denver in her home for compensation continued from February, 1987, until and including the time when Denver Burt was injured in her home while under her care.

Denver’s mother had left him with Jan Ball at the Ball home the morning of May 14, 1987, in good health. At approximately 11:30 that same morning, Denver Burt was taken first to a hospital in Cleburne, where he was comatose, and then by helicopter to a hospital in Fort Worth, where he was placed under the care of two physicians. The deposition testimony of both doctors establishes without contradiction that the child had suffered massive injuries to his brain that could only have been caused by his having been violently shaken. Dr. Bechtel’s prognosis, according to his deposition testimony, is that Denver to a significant extent will be retarded in his development as a human, will be basically blind, and will be slow to learn.

Jan Ball was indicted, tried, found guilty, and convicted of injury to Denver, causing serious bodily injury, and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

STANDARD FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Regardless of the sympathy that such a set of facts evokes, it must be determined whether or not there is coverage to pay for Denver’s debilitating injuries under the language of the policy. Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states that summary judgment “shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” The party seeking summary judgment always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion and identifying those portions of the pleadings and the other documents which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of a material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

The plain language of Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case and on which the party will bear the burden of proof at trial. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322-23, 106 S.Ct. at 2552-53. Once the movant carries his burden, the burden shifts to the non-movant to show that the movant should not be granted summary judgment. See EEOC v. American Fed’n of Government Employees Local 1617, 657 F.Supp. 742, 746 (W.D.Tex.1987). The failure of the non-movant to carry his burden of proof on an essential element of his case mandates entry of summary judgment against the non-movant. Washington v. Armstrong World Indus., Inc., 839 F.2d 1121, 1123 (5th Cir.1988). Further, when the moving party has carried its Rule 56(c) burden, “its opponent must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).

APPLICATION

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Travelers Indemnity Co. v. Fantozzi Ex Rel. Fantozzi
825 F. Supp. 80 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1993)
Rocky Mountain Casualty Co. v. Martin
802 P.2d 144 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
720 F. Supp. 82, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11487, 1989 WL 111564, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burt-v-aetna-casualty-surety-co-txnd-1989.