Dragomir v. Med. Mut. Ins. Co.

Superior Court of Maine·Decided August 28, 2012·No. CUMcv-10-529and538·Unpublished

Opinion

STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT CUMBERLAND, ss CIVIL ACTION DOCKETNOS. CV-10-529

CV-10-538 1

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PAUL DRAGOMIR,

Plaintiff,

v. ORDER

MEDICAL MUTUAL INSURANCE STATE OF fviAlk\! CO., et al, Cumberland, s~. Cieri\'§

Defendants.

Before the court in these consolidated cases are motions for summary judgment by defendants Medical Mutual Insurance Co. and York Insurance Co.

Summary Judgment Summary judgment should be granted if there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. In considering a motion for summary judgment, the court is required to consider only the portions of the record referred to and the material facts set forth in the parties' Rule 56(h) statements. E,g., Johnson v. McNeil, 2002 ME 99 err 8, 800 A.2d 702, 704. The facts must be considered in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Id. Thus, for purposes of summary judgment, any factual disputes must be resolved against the movant. Nevertheless, when the facts offered by a party in opposition to summary judgment would not, if offered at trial, be sufficient to withstand a motion for judgment as a matter of law, summary judgment should be granted. Rodrigue v. Rodrigue, 1997_ME 99 err 8, 694 A.2d 924, 926.

Undisputed Facts In this case all of the essential facts are undisputed. Dragomir has admitted all of the factual assertions in the statements of material facts submitted by Medical Mutual and York Insurance and has submitted a short statement of additional material facts. For their part, the defendant insurers have admitted many of Dragomir's additional material facts with a few qualifications primarily relating to relevancy and admissibility. 1 The case arises from a relationship that began when plaintiff Paul Dragomir, who had been undergoing treatment for mental health and other issues as an inpatient at Spring Harbor, transferred to Spring Harbor's partial hospitalization program. At that time Dragomir began therapy with Eric Richardson, a licensed clinical social worker employed at Spring Harbor.

Richardson continued to treat Dragomir when Dragomir transitioned from the partial hospitalization program to intensive outpatient treatment and then to individual

1 For purposes of this motion, the court has accepted all of Dragomir's additional facts except for his reference to Richardson's assertion in his deposition that Richardson's sexual relationship with Dragomir did not start until the therapist-patient relationship had ended. See Dragomir SMF <J[ 13. First, any reliance on that testimony is foreclosed by Dragomir's admission, in responding to defendants' statements of material facts, that the sexual relationship began while Richardson was his therapist. York Insurance Co. SMF dated February 2, 2012 9[ 20-21 (admitted); Medical Mutual SMF dated February 6, 2012 9[ 18(a) (admitted). Second, Dragomir's complaint alleges that the sexual relationship began during his therapy with Richardson. Second Amended Complaint dated March 31, 2011 9[ 8. Dragomir also testified that the sexual relationship began in May 2000 while he was receiving therapy from Richardson. See Medical Mutual SMF <j[ 18(a). Most importantly, Richardson's deposition testimony on this issue is inconsistent with Richardson's guilty plea to gross sexual assault based on sexual acts occurring at a time when Richardson was in a therapist-patient relationship with Dragomir. Under these circumstances, Richardson's subsequent self-serving contention that the sexual relationship did not begin until the therapy had ended does not raise a disputed issue of fact.

Even if Richardson's deposition testimony on this issue were not disregarded, moreover, it would not raise a factual dispute for trial for reasons set forth below.

outpatient therapy. By June of 2000 and possibly a month earlier, a sexual relationship had begun between Richardson and Dragomir at a time when Richardson was serving as Dragomir' s therapist. See York Insurance Co. Statement of Material Facts dated February 2, 2012 <JI 20-21 (admitted); Medical Mutual Statement of Material Facts dated February 6, 2012 <JI 18(a) (admitted). Richardson continued to engage in sexual acts with Dragomir until Dragomir's treatment concluded in January 2001.

In July 2001 Dragomir disclosed to Spring Harbor that he had been sexually victimized by Richardson at a time when Richardson was serving as Dragomir' s therapist. Richardson was immediate! y suspended from Spring Harbor and then resigned. He was reported to the Board of Licensure and was later convicted of gross sexual assault under the provision of the criminal law that prohibits sexual acts between a social worker and a person receiving mental health therapy as a client of the social worker. 17-A M.R.S. § 253(2)(!). 2 Dragomir thereafter sued Richardson and Spring Harbor. Dragomir v.

Richardson, CV-02-615 (Superior Court Cumberland County). His claim against Spring Harbor was based on two theories: that Spring Harbor as Richardson's employer was vicariously liable for Richardson's actions and that Spring Harbor was liable for negligent supervision of Richardson.

The Superior Court granted summary judgment for Spring Harbor on both of those claims. On appeal, the Law Court affirmed the dismissal of Dragomir' s vicarious liability claim but remanded the negligent supervision claim for consideration by a medical malpractice screening panel and then by the court. Dragomir v. Spring Harbor Hospital, 2009 ME 51, 970 A.2d 310.

2 Richardson was convicted under section 253(2)(1) as it existed in 2000-01. The requirement that "mental health therapy" be involved has since been deleted.

After a panel hearing Dragomir dismissed his negligent supervision claim against Spring Harbor and proceeded with his claims against Richardson. Subsequently Richardson consented to the entry of a $125,000 judgment against him with the proviso that the judgment could not be executed against any of Richardson's personal assets or income. See Consent Judgment dated March 7, 2011 in CV-02-615.

Dragomir than brought these consolidated actions. During the time when Dragomir' s cause of action against Richardson arose, defendant Medical Mutual maintained insurance covering Spring Harbor employees. 3 During the time when Dragomir' s cause of action against Richardson arose, Richardson also had a homeowner's insurance policy with defendant York Insurance. Dragomir seeks declaratory judgments that Medical Mutual and York Insurance are obligated to indemnify Richardson for the damages awarded against Richardson in CV -02-615 and seeks recovery of $125,000 against Medical Mutual and York Insurance under the reach and apply statute, 24-A M.R.S. § 2904.

Given that the essential facts are undisputed, the pending motions turn on questions of law - whether either the Medical Mutual policy or the York Insurance homeowner's policy or both cover the claims against Richardson for which Dragomir has obtained a $125,000 judgment.

Claim Against Medical Mutual Although the briefs of the parties address several of the provisions in the Medical Mutual policy, the court concludes that one provision in that policy is dispositive. Both

3 Medical Mutual's policy covered occurrences during the period from May 2000 through July 2001 - when the sexual acts between Richardson and Dragomir occurred - and also covered claims made during the period from July 2001, when Dragomir first reported Richardson's actions, through 2002, when Dragomir filed a notice of claim.

the "Occurrence" and the "Claims Made" portions of the Medical Mutual policy expressly exclude coverage for "sexual misconduct." Specifically, the section of the Medical Mutual policy covering occurrences states that employees are not protected for "injury resulting from any sexual misconduct." See Form MMHCP-4 (8/95), page 5 of 17. "Sexual Misconduct" is defined as

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Dragomir v. Med. Mut. Ins. Co., (Me. Super. Ct. 2012).

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