State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Brooks

43 F. Supp. 2d 695, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22265, 1998 WL 1019971
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Texas
DecidedSeptember 17, 1998
Docket6:97CV425
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 43 F. Supp. 2d 695 (State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Brooks) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Brooks, 43 F. Supp. 2d 695, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22265, 1998 WL 1019971 (E.D. Tex. 1998).

Opinion

ORDER ON SUMMARY JUDGMENT

STEGER, District Judge.

On this day came on to be considered Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket No. 14). After careful consideration, the Court is of the opinion that the following order should follow.

FACTS OF THE CASE

The plaintiff, State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, brought this declaratory judgment action to determine insurance coverage in federal district court based on diversity jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). The plaintiff seeks to avoid defense and indemnification of Defendant Adam Brooks in a state court action brought by Defendant Jane Doe. Jane Doe brought suit in the 196th Judicial District Court of Hunt County, Texas, Cause No. 57648, alleging that Defendant Brooks sexually assaulted her on January 29, 1995, while Defendant Brooks was intoxicated. (Plaintiffs Second Amended Original Petition at ¶ 3, Jane Doe v. Adam Brooks, et. al, Cause No. 57648, 196th Judicial District, Hunt County, Texas). Specifically, Defendant Doe alleged: “Defendant [Brooks] committed sexual acts to which the Plaintiff did not consent which sexual acts were a proximate cause of the injury to the Plaintiff and the damages described below. Unconsenting sexual acts were an invasion of Plaintiffs privacy and/or negligent acts for which Defendant is legally responsible.” (Id. at ¶ 6). Defendant Doe claims for damages from Defendant Brooks including: (1) reasonable and necessary medical expenses, past and future; (2) physical injuries, past and future, including an increased likelihood of cervical cancer; (3) physical pain, past and future; (4) mental anguish, past and future; and (5) loss of enjoyment of life, past and future. (Id. at ¶ 7).

Plaintiff State Farm issued a homeowner’s insurance policy, numbered 93-07-0455-9 and effective May 16, 1994 through May 16, 1995, to Robert S. Jr. and Patricia *697 Brooks, parents of Defendant Brooks. 1 The policy provided for liability coverage for “bodily injury” caused by an “occurrence.” The policy defines an “occurrence” as “an accident, including exposure to conditions, which results in bodily injury or property damage during the policy period.” The policy also contains what is commonly known as the “intentional act exclusion,” which specifically eliminates from coverage “bodily injury or property damage which is caused intentionally by or at the direction of an insured.”

With no disputed questions of fact on the duty to defend issue, the case is now before the Court on cross motions for summary judgment. The parties dispute interpretation of the term, “occurrence,” and the applicability of the intentional act exclusion to the instant case.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

In deciding whether to grant a motion for summary judgment, the Court “review[s] the evidence and inferences to be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party” and determines whether “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 judgment as a matter of law.” Duplantis v. Shell Offshore, Inc., 948 F.2d 187, 189 (5th Cir.1991) (citing Duvall v. The Ritz Carlton Hotel Co., 946 F.2d 418, 420 (5th Cir.1991), and quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)). An issue is “genuine” only “ ‘if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the, nonmoving party.’ ” Thomas v. Price, 975 F.2d 231, 235 (5th Cir.1992) (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)). “[T]he plaintiff must present affirmative evidence in order to defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 257, 106 S.Ct. 2505. “This requires that a plaintiff make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an[y] element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden at trial.” Nowlin v. R.T.C., 33 F.3d 498, 501 (5th Cir.1994) (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)). Since there are no disputed fact issues concerning the duty to defend in this case, and the Court is faced with cross motions for summary judgment,' the Court finds that summary judgment on this issue is proper.

The Court also acknowledges the plaintiffs argument that declaratory judgment actions are a favored means of resolving coverage disputes. See generally State Farm, Fire & Cas. Co. v. Gandy, 925 S.W.2d 696 (Tex.1996).

ANALYSIS

The Court will first examine the basic principles governing coverage disputes in Texas. Next, the Court will discuss the issue of intoxication, its effect on intent, and the ramifications of facts alleging Defendant Brooks’ intoxication on Defendant Doe’s petition. The Court will then apply Texas law concerning the intentional act exclusion and the definition of “occurrence” in the instant policy. Finally, the Court will briefly address policy concerns in the area of insurance coverage.

(A) Texas Law and Insurance Coverage Disputes

Texas rules of contract interpretation control in this diversity case. Canutillo Independent School District v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA 99 F.3d 695, 700 (5th Cir.1996) (citing Arnica Mut. Ins. Co. v. Moak, 55 F.3d 1093, 1095 (5th Cir.1995); Matter of Haber Oil Co., Inc., 12 F.3d 426, 443 *698 (5th Cir.1994); Tex.Ins.Code Ann. art. 21.42 (West 1981)). The terms in an insurance policy are to be given their ordinary and generally accepted meaning, unless the policy shows that the words were meant in a technical or different sense. Forbau v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 876 S.W.2d 132, 133 (Tex.1994), (citing Security Mut. Cas. Co. v. Johnson, 584 S.W.2d 703, 704 (Tex.1979).

Under the “complaint allegation rule,” factual allegations in the pleadings and the policy language determine an insurer’s duty to defend.

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43 F. Supp. 2d 695, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22265, 1998 WL 1019971, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-farm-fire-casualty-co-v-brooks-txed-1998.