Pins v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.

361 F. Supp. 2d 1053, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4790, 2005 WL 701073
CourtDistrict Court, D. South Dakota
DecidedFebruary 23, 2005
DocketCIV. 04-4027
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 361 F. Supp. 2d 1053 (Pins v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. South Dakota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pins v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., 361 F. Supp. 2d 1053, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4790, 2005 WL 701073 (D.S.D. 2005).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

PIERSOL, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff, Judson Pins (“Pins”) has moved, pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, for partial summary judgment on the insurance coverage issues in this case. Pins seeks a judgment that defendant State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. (“State Farm”) owed and breached duties to defend and indemnify Pins in a lawsuit brought against him in circuit court in Minnehaha County, South Dakota. State Farm seeks judgment on the pleadings, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c), contending that it had no duty to defend or indemnify Pins. As discussed below, State Farm had a duty to *1055 defend and indemnify Pins in the lawsuit which is the subject of these motions. Accordingly, State Farm’s motion for judgment on the pleadings will be denied, and Pin’s motion for partial summary judgment will be granted.

BACKGROUND

The motions at issue here involve the lawsuit, Gery F. Baar v. Judson Pins, Civ. 02-2663 (the “underlying action”,), filed in the Second Judicial Circuit Court in South Dakota. The following facts are undisputed unless otherwise noted:

On or about May 20, 2000, State Farm issued to Pins a personal liability umbrella insurance policy (the “Policy”). The Policy was renewed on an annual basis. On or about November 19, 2002, while the Policy was in force, Pins was served with the complaint in the underlying action. The complaint included claims for negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction- of emotional distress, alienation of affections and punitive damages for conduct that occurred within the period covered by the Policy. The complaint sought compensatory damages against Pins in the amount of $2,500,000.

Pins tendered the defense of the lawsuit to State Farm. State Farm retained an attorney to represent Pins, but reserved its right to deny a defense and indemnification after further investigation. On or about March 12, 2003, State Farm informed Pins that it would discontinue its defense and that there would be no indemnification for any loss in the underlying action. Pins’ own attorney represented and defended him in the underlying action at Pins’ expense. The parties reached a settlement agreement-pursuant to which Pins agreed to pay Baar a confidential amount of money, and the underlying action was dismissed on November 3, 2003. State Farm did not contribute to the settlement. This lawsuit was commenced on January 12, 2004, in the Second Judicial Circuit Court in South Dakota. It was removed to this Court on February 12, 2004 based on diversity of citizenship. The Complaint contains five counts: breach of contract (Count I), bad faith (Count II), punitive damages (Count III), attorney fees pursuant to SDCL § 58-12-3 (Count IV), and declaratory relief (Count V). The parties agreed to defer all discovery pending a ruling from the Court on the coverage issues, and they submitted simultaneous motions with supporting briefs.

Under the Policy, State Farm agreed to defend Pins in any suit “covered by this policy.” (Policy at § 2. Defense and Settlement at p. 3.) State Farm agreed to indemnify Pins for damages he became legally obligated to pay as a result of a “loss.” (Policy at § 1. Coverage L — Personal Liability.) The Policy Endorsement issued by State Farm provides two definitions of “loss.” First, a “loss” can mean an “accident, including injurious exposure to conditions, which results in bodily injury or property damage during the policy period.” (Policy Endorsement at § 6(a), Definitions.) An alternative definition of “loss” is “the commission of an offense, or series of similar or related offenses, which result in personal injury during the policy period.” (Policy Endorsement at § 6(b), Definitions.) “Bodily injury” means: “Physical injury, sickness, disease, emotional distress or mental injury to a person.” (Policy Endorsement at § 17, Definitions.) “Personal Injury” is defined as “injury caused by one or more of the following offenses: a. false arrest, false imprisonment, wrongful eviction, wrongful detention, malicious prosecution; b. libel, slander, defamation or character or invasion of rights of privacy.” 1 (Policy Endorsement *1056 at § 9, Definitions.) The Policy has an exclusion which is relevant to this case:

2. for bodily injury or property damage:
a. which is either expected or intended by you; or
b. to any person or property which is the result of your willful and malicious act, no matter at whom the act was directed.

(Policy Endorsement, Exclusions.)

State Farm does not contend that Pins’ actions were malicious, and it does not argue that subsection (b) of the exclusion applies in this case. Thus, the issues for purposes of the pending motions are whether the allegations in the underlying complaint meet the first definition of a “loss” as an accident resulting in bodily injury, and if so, whether the exclusion for bodily injury expected or intended by the insured applies in this case.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment shall be entered “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c). In ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the Court is required to view the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and must give that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences to be drawn from the underlying facts. AgriStor Leasing v. Farrow, 826 F.2d 732, 734 (8th Cir.1987). The moving party bears the burden of showing both the absence of a genuine issue of material fact and its entitlement to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).

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Bluebook (online)
361 F. Supp. 2d 1053, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4790, 2005 WL 701073, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pins-v-state-farm-fire-casualty-co-sdd-2005.