Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas Ex Rel. Grahmann v. Interstate Fire & Casualty Co.

133 S.W.3d 887, 2004 Tex. App. LEXIS 4446, 2004 WL 1098831
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 18, 2004
Docket05-03-00625-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 133 S.W.3d 887 (Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas Ex Rel. Grahmann v. Interstate Fire & Casualty Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas Ex Rel. Grahmann v. Interstate Fire & Casualty Co., 133 S.W.3d 887, 2004 Tex. App. LEXIS 4446, 2004 WL 1098831 (Tex. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion By

Justice JAMES.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas (the Diocese) appeals the summary judgment entered in favor of Interstate Fire & Casualty Co., Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, Excess Insurance Co., Terra Nova Insurance Co., and Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Co. (Insurers). The Diocese brings three issues asserting the trial court erred in determining Insurers provided no liability insurance coverage for the Diocese’s liability for sexual assaults committed by a priest. We reverse the trial court’s judgment and remand the cause for further proceedings.

BACKGROUND

Insurers, all of whom have written liability insurance policies for the Diocese, brought this declaratory judgment action against the Diocese to determine whether they owed a duty to indemnify the Diocese in the underlying lawsuit. In that lawsuit, John Doe XVII sued Father Patrick Lynch and the Diocese, alleging Lynch repeatedly molested Doe beginning in 1977. Doe also alleged that the Diocese had been aware of Lynch’s sexual propensities since 1966 when it learned of his molesting a boy in a church. Doe asserted the Diocese’s response to Lynch’s behavior was to keep the matter confidential. According to Doe’s petition, the Diocese simply placed a memo in Lynch’s personnel file but did not send him for treatment or remove him from contact with boys. Doe asserted many causes of action against the Diocese on a variety of theories, including respondeat superior, agency, negligence in hiring and retaining Lynch, negligent supervision of Lynch, negligence in failing to ascertain Lynch’s dangerous sexual tendencies, negligent failure to warn Doe and his family of Lynch’s dangerous sexual propensities, breach of fiduciary duty, knowing participation in breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, conspiracy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Doe also alleged a variety of intentional torts against Lynch. The underlying case is pending in the trial court.

In the declaratory judgment action, Insurers alleged the policies do not provide coverage for any judgment that may be rendered in the underlying case because the policies do not cover liability from intentional, knowing, or grossly negligent torts, and Doe’s negligence claims are “inextricably intertwined” with the intentional tort claims against Lynch, and thus none of the claims constitute an “occurrence” under the policies. Insurers also alleged the policies do not provide coverage for any acts of sexual molestation occurring before the first of their policies went into effect. Insurers moved for summary judgment under rule of civil procedure 166a(c) requesting the trial court to declare Insurers had no duty to indemnify the Diocese for any judgment rendered in the underlying case. The trial court granted the motion for summary judgment.

*890 STANDARD OF REVIEW

The standard of review for summary judgments is well known. See S.W. Elec. Power Co. v. Grant, 73 S.W.3d 211, 215 (Tex.2002). A party moving for summary judgment has the burden of showing no genuine issue of material fact exists and it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Tex.R. Civ. P. 166a(c); Swilley v. Hughes, 488 S.W.2d 64, 67 (Tex.1972). After the movant has established a right to summary judgment, the burden shifts to the nonmovant to present evidence creating a fact issue. Kang v. Hyundai Corp., 992 S.W.2d 499, 501 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1999, no pet.).

The duty to indemnify is a distinct and separate duty from the duty to defend. King v. Dallas Fire Ins. Co., 85 S.W.3d 185, 187 (Tex.2002). Although litigation on the duty to indemnify is often pursued after liability against the insured has been established in the underlying case, the insurer can resolve the indemnity issue before the establishment of liability in the underlying case by proving coverage is impossible in the underlying case. See Farmers Tex. County Mut. Ins. Co. v. Griffin, 955 S.W.2d 81, 84 (Tex.1997) (per curiam). In Griffin, the defendant in the underlying case was driving his car when two passengers fired shots at the plaintiff as he walked down the street, wounding him. Id. at 82. The plaintiff sued the defendant alleging he was negligent in supervising his passengers. The defendant’s automobile insurance policy provided coverage for liability from “auto accident['s].” The supreme court held summary judgment on the insurer’s declaratory judgment action was correct and there was no coverage as a matter of law under the policy because “[n]o fact can be developed in the underlying tort suit that can transform a drive-by shooting into an ‘auto accident.’ ” Id. at 84. 1 Thus, under Griffin, for Insurers to be entitled to summary judgment, they had to establish as a matter of law that the judgment rendered in the underlying lawsuit could not fall within coverage under the policies.

THE POLICIES

All of the policies at issue are excess liability policies. None provides a duty to defend. Under the policies, the Diocese is the “assured.” The policies also provide that an employee falls under the definition of “assured” “while acting within the scope of his duties as such,” and priests fall under the definition of “assured” “whilst acting within the scope of their duties on behalf of the Named Assured [the Diocese].” The parties do not dispute that, as a matter of law, Lynch was not acting within the scope of his duties as an employee or priest on behalf of the Diocese when he allegedly sexually molested Doe. Thus, the record establishes as a matter of law that Lynch was not an assured under the policies.

The liability clauses of the policies provide:

Underwriters hereby agree ... to indemnify the Assured for all sums which *891 the Assured shall be obligated to pay by reason of the liability imposed upon the Assured by law ... for damages ... on account of personal injuries ... suffered or alleged to have been suffered by any person ... arising out of any occurrence happening during the period of this insurance.

The policies define “occurrence” as follows:

The term “occurrence” ... shall mean an accident or a happening or event or a continuous or repeated exposure to conditions which unexpectedly and unintentionally results in personal injury ... during the policy period.

INTENTIONAL CONDUCT

In its first issue, the Diocese questions whether the trial court erred in granting Insurers’ motion for summary judgment on the ground that Insurers owed no duty to indemnify the Diocese for any judgment which might be rendered in the underlying litigation because of Lynch’s intentional conduct.

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Bluebook (online)
133 S.W.3d 887, 2004 Tex. App. LEXIS 4446, 2004 WL 1098831, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roman-catholic-diocese-of-dallas-ex-rel-grahmann-v-interstate-fire-texapp-2004.