State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Estate of Evoniuk

681 F. Supp. 662, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1954, 1988 WL 20255
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedMarch 8, 1988
DocketNo. C-87-3987 SAW
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 681 F. Supp. 662 (State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Estate of Evoniuk) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California 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. Estate of Evoniuk, 681 F. Supp. 662, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1954, 1988 WL 20255 (N.D. Cal. 1988).

Opinion

ORDER

WEIGEL, District Judge.

I. Background.

Plaintiff State Farm Fire and Casualty Company sues defendants for a declaratory judgment that it owes no duty to defend nor indemnify defendants Timothy and Debra Evoniuk and the Estate of Sean Evo-niuk in a suit against them brought by Kathryn Langman Clark in Contra Costa County Superior Court.

The case arises out of a motorcycle accident, on February 10, 1986, involving Clark and deeedant, Sean Evoniuk, a sixteen year old minor. Sean allegedly had been drinking at home with several friends, and in the presence of his mother, Debra Evoniuk. He then went for a motorcycle ride with a companion, and, while driving at a high rate of speed, crossed the center line, collided with the vehicle driven by Clark, and skidded across the road, down an embankment, and into a tree. Sean was killed in the accident, and Clark was injured.

On January 27, 1987, Clark filed the underlying suit alleging, inter alia, that Sean was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision, that Timothy and Debra Evoniuk, his parents, negligently entrusted the motorcycle to him, and that they failed properly to supervise him in his use of the motorcycle.

The Progressive Casualty Insurance Company, as Sean’s automobile insurer, tendered the $15,000 policy limit to Clark’s attorney. Acceptance was refused on the grounds that Clark had suffered serious and permanent injuries in excess of that amount, and that defendants had sufficient personal assets to respond to a higher judgment.

Timothy and Debra Evoniuk have a homeowner’s policy from State Farm with liability limits of $300,000 per occurrence. Sean Evoniuk was covered as a resident under the age of 21 in the care of the named insureds. Defense of the underlying suit was tendered to State Farm by Progressive pursuant to the terms of the homeowner’s policy on March 3, 1987, and re-tendered on June 17, 1987. On both [663]*663occasions, State Farm declined coverage, and later instituted this action for declaratory relief. State Farm now seeks summary judgment on the ground that the acts complained of in the underlying suit fall within specific exclusions of the homeowner’s policy.

II. The Homeowner’s Insurance Policy.

Under the policy, State Farm is obligated to pay up to the limit of liability for damages for which the insured is legally liable, and to provide a legal defense at its expense. Declaration of Sally C. McDonald, January 15, 1988, Exhibit A at Section II— Liability Coverages, p. 11. The policy also contains specific exclusions from personal liability and medical payments to others for bodily injury or property damage (1) arising out of the use of a motor vehicle owned or operated by an insured and (2) arising out of the entrustment by an insured to any person of a motor vehicle. Id. at p. 12.

State Farm relies on these express exclusions in claiming that it owes no duty to defend or indemnify the Evoniuks as to Clark’s state court action. Defendants concede that any liability of the Estate of Sean Evoniuk arising out of the accident and any liability of Timothy and Debra Evoniuk for negligent entrustment are not covered by the homeowner’s policy. However, Timothy and Debra Evoniuk claim that they are covered because of their potential liability under state law for negligent supervision of their minor son, in that he was knowingly permitted to operate the motorcycle when he was under the influence of alcohol. Plaintiff concedes that, as a general proposition under state law, parents can be held independently liable for failing to properly supervise a minor child.

The sole issue before the Court is whether the policy exclusion relating to use of motor vehicles justifies State Farm’s claim it has no duty to defend or indemnify the parents. For reasons now to be elaborated, the Court holds that claim to be well taken.

III. Standards for Summary Judgment.

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c), summary judgment may be granted when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. See Jung v. FMC Corp., 755 F.2d 708, 710 (9th Cir.1985). To withstand a motion for summary judgment, the non-moving party must show that there are “genuine factual issues that properly can be resolved only by a finder of fact because they may reasonably be resolved in favor of either party.” Cal. Arch. Bldg. Prod. v. Franciscan Ceramics, 818 F.2d 1466, 1468 (9th Cir.1987) citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2511, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

State Farm’s position regarding coverage is straightforward. It correctly points out that the policy excludes coverage for damage arising out of the use of a motor vehicle by an insured, and that the damages to Clark arise entirely out of the use of the motor vehicle by Sean, insured as one under the age of 21 in care of Timothy and Debra Evoniuk, the named insureds. Further, State Farm claims that any liability of Timothy and Debra Evoniuk for negligent supervision is inseparable from the use of the motor vehicle and therefore also falls under the exclusionary provisions.

IV.The Concurrent Causation Doctrine.

Defendants, on the other hand, invoke the state law doctrine of “concurrent causation” to find coverage for any liability of the parents for negligent supervision. This doctrine is applied in two distinct situations. Under Sabella v. Wisler, 59 Cal.2d 21, 27 Cal.Rptr. 689, 377 P.2d 889 (1963), if the occurrence of a risk covered under an insurance policy directly causes damage otherwise excluded, that damage is nevertheless covered. The second application of the doctrine, set forth in State Farm v. Partridge, 10 Cal.3d 94, 109 Cal.Rptr. 811, 514 P.2d 123 (1973), held that where two independent causes proximately lead to damage to a third party, coverage will be found if either of those causes is covered under the policy. Neither the holdings in Sabella nor Partridge justify deciding in [664]*664this case that the damage to Clark resulted from a covered risk.

A. Sabella.

Sabella deals with the situation whenever two perils, one excluded and the other covered, combine to cause a loss. 59 Cal.2d at 31-32, 27 Cal.Rptr. 689, 377 P.2d 889; see also Safeco Ins. Co. of America v. Guyton, 692 F.2d 551, 554 n. 10 (9th Cir.1982). In Sabella, a negligently installed sewer line ruptured. That was a covered risk. Water flowing from the rupture flowed into the ground surrounding the house, causing the earth to settle (an excluded risk) and damaging the foundation.

The Court in Sabella

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Bluebook (online)
681 F. Supp. 662, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1954, 1988 WL 20255, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-farm-fire-casualty-co-v-estate-of-evoniuk-cand-1988.