Preferred National Insurance v. Docusearch, Inc.

829 A.2d 1068, 149 N.H. 759, 2003 N.H. LEXIS 122
CourtSupreme Court of New Hampshire
DecidedAugust 19, 2003
DocketNo. 2002-729
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 829 A.2d 1068 (Preferred National Insurance v. Docusearch, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Preferred National Insurance v. Docusearch, Inc., 829 A.2d 1068, 149 N.H. 759, 2003 N.H. LEXIS 122 (N.H. 2003).

Opinion

Dalianis, J.

In this declaratory judgment action, the respondents, Docusearch, Inc. (Docusearch) and Helen Remsburg, appeal an order of the Superior Court (Hampsey, J.) granting summary judgment in favor of the petitioner, Preferred National Insurance Company (Preferred). We affirm in part, reverse in part and remand.

Preferred sought a declaratory judgment that it is under no obligation to defend or indemnify Docusearch in a lawsuit filed by Remsburg, Administratrix of the Estate of Amy Lynn Boyer, in the United States [761]*761District Court for the District of New Hampshire, Helen Remsburg, Administratrix v. Docusearch, Inc., No. C-00-211-B, because the damages alleged by Remsburg arose out of an act excluded by the insurance policy. The claims made by Remsburg and the facts underlying the complaint are detailed in Remsburg v. Docusearch, 149 N.H. 148,151-53 (2003), and need only briefly be summarized here. Liam Youens contacted Docusearch and requested the date of birth, social security number and place of employment for Amy Lynn Boyer. Docusearch failed to provide Boyer’s date of birth, but provided Youens with her social security number and place of employment. On October 15, 1999, Youens drove to Boyer’s workplace and fatally shot her as she left work. Youens then shot and killed himself.

The disputed insurance policy issued by Preferred to Docusearch provides commercial general liability coverage for bodily injury and property damage (Coverage A), as well as personal and advertising injury damage (Coverage B). Coverage A provides that the insurer will pay “those sums that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of ‘bodily injury’ or ‘property damage’ to which this insurance applies.” “Bodily injury” is defined as “bodily injury, sickness or disease sustained by a person, including death resulting from any of these at any time.” Coverage B provides that the insurer will pay “those sums that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of ‘personal and advertising injury’ to which this insurance applies.” “Personal and advertising injury” means “injury, including consequential ‘bodily injury’, arising out of one or more of the following offenses: ... e. Oral or written publication of material that violates a person’s right to privacy.”

The policy also includes a “Detective or Patrol Agency Endorsement” (detective endorsement), which modifies the commercial general liability coverage and provides “coverage for sums which you become legally obligated to pay because of any Negligent Act, Error or Omission committed during the Policy Period in the conduct of ... operations,” subject to “those Exclusions already found in the Coverage Form.”

The parties’ dispute centers primarily upon the interpretation of an “Assault & Battery Endorsement” attached to the policy, which provides:

[T]he policy to which this endorsement is attached, is amended and modified as follows:
Actions and proceedings to recover damages for bodily injuries or property damage arising from the following are excluded from coverage, and the Company is under no duty to defend or to indemnify an insured in any action or proceeding alleging such damages:
[762]*7621. Assault and Battery or any act or omission in connection with the prevention or suppression of such acts;
Regardless of degree of culpability or intent and without regard to:
A. Whether the acts are alleged to be by or at the instruction or at the direction of the insured, his officers, employees, agents, or servants; or by any person lawfully or otherwise on, at or near premises owned or occupied by the insured; or by any other person____

Preferred filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that the assault and battery endorsement excluded coverage because the claimed damages arose out of Youens’ assault and battery. The trial court granted the motion, finding that the respondents “failed to rebut, with evidence sufficient to raise a genuine issue of material fact, Preferred’s showing that the exclusive source of the underlying plaintiff’s injuries (and therefore [the] claims) was the murder of Amy Boyer and its attendant excluded acts.” On appeal, the respondents argue that the trial court erred in: (1) concluding that the assault and battery endorsement excluded coverage' for bodily injury claims where the harm alleged was caused by the insured’s negligence in disclosing information; and (2) applying the assault and battery endorsement to exclude claims brought under either Coverage B or the detective endorsement.

In its brief, Preferred argues that the trial court erred by applying New Hampshire law, rather than Florida law, to interpret the policy. Preferred has not cross-appealed the trial court’s ruling that New Hampshire law applies, however, and thus has waived its choice of law argument. See Federal Bake Shop v. Farmington Cas. Co., 144 N.H. 40, 43 (1999). Accordingly, we address the respondents’ arguments under New Hampshire law.

In reviewing the trial court’s grant of summary judgment, we consider the affidavits and other evidence, and all inferences properly drawn from them, in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. See Del Norte, Inc. v. Provencher, 142 N.H. 535, 537 (1997). “If our review of that evidence discloses no genuine issue of material fact, and if the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, we will affirm the grant of summary judgment.” Id. (quotation and brackets omitted). Pursuant to RSA 491:22-a (1997), “the burden of proving lack of insurance coverage is on the insurer.” Maville v. Peerless Ins. Co., 141 N.H. 317, 320 (1996) (quotation omitted).

[763]*763The interpretation of the language of an insurance policy is a question of law for this court to decide. High Country Assocs. v. N.H. Ins. Co., 139 N.H. 39, 41 (1994). We take the plain and ordinary meaning of the policy’s words in context, and we construe the terms of the policy as would a reasonable person in the position of the insured based upon more than a casual reading of the policy as a whole. Id. An insurer’s obligation to defend its insured is determined by whether the cause of action against the insured alleges sufficient facts in the pleadings to bring it within the express terms of the policy. Martin v. Me. Mut. Fire Ins. Co., 145 N.H. 498, 500 (2000). An insurance company is free to limit its liability through clear and unambiguous policy language. Ross v. Home Ins. Co., 146 N.H. 468, 471 (2001).

The respondents argue that Preferred has a duty to defend and indemnify Docusearch against Remsburg’s negligence claim. The claim alleges that Docusearch negligently disseminated information by providing Boyer’s social security number and place of employment to Youens, who allegedly used the information in connection with his murder of Boyer. The claim alleges “damages including but not limited to the fear, anxiety and mental and physical pain suffered by Amy Lynn Boyer as she lay dying, the reasonable expenses occasioned to the estate by her death, the loss of the probable duration of her life but for her death.”

The respondents argue that the assault and battery endorsement does not apply to the negligence claim because the damages alleged arose from the insured’s negligence, not from an assault and battery.

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Bluebook (online)
829 A.2d 1068, 149 N.H. 759, 2003 N.H. LEXIS 122, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/preferred-national-insurance-v-docusearch-inc-nh-2003.