Westboro Condominium Association v. Country Casualty Insurance Company

District Court, W.D. Washington·Decided February 10, 2023·No. 2:21-cv-00685·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT AT SEATTLE

ASSOCIATION, Plaintiff, v. No. 2:21-cv-00685-BJR COUNTRY CASUALTY INSURANCE ORDER RE: (1) PLAINTIFF’S COMPANY, COUNTRY MUTUAL MOTIONS IN LIMINE; AND (2) INSURANCE COMPANY, EAGLE WEST DEFENDANT’S MOTIONS IN INSURANCE COMPANY, and DOE LIMINE INSURANCE COMPANIES 1-10,

Defendants.

I. INTRODUCTION This lawsuit is an insurance coverage dispute, between the Westboro Condominium Association (“Plaintiff” or “Westboro”) and Defendants Country Casualty Insurance Company and Country Mutual Insurance Company (“Defendants” or “Country”), relating to certain water damage at a condominium in Federal Way, Washington (the “Condominium”). A jury trial in this matter is scheduled to begin on February 17, 2023. Presently before the Court are six motions in limine filed by Plaintiff (“Pl. Mot.,” Dkt. No. 54), and six motions in limine filed by Defendants (“Def. Mot.,” Dkt. No. 52). Plaintiff and Defendants have filed briefs opposing each other’s motions (Dkt. No. 57 (“Pl. Opp.”); Dkt. No. 59 (“Def. Opp.”)). Having reviewed the motions, the

ORDER RE: MOTIONS IN LIMINE - 1 record of the case, and the relevant legal authorities, the Court GRANTS several of the motions, and DENIES the others, as set forth in this order. “A motion in limine is a procedural mechanism to limit in advance testimony or evidence in a particular area.” United States v. Heller, 551 F.3d 1108, 1111 (9th Cir. 2009) (citation omitted). By ruling in limine, the court “gives counsel advance notice of the scope of certain evidence” before trial. Id. at 1111-12. However, a motion in limine should not be used to resolve factual disputes or weigh evidence. See C & E Servs., Inc. v. Ashland, Inc., 539 F. Supp. 2d 316, 323 (D.D.C. 2008); Dubner v. City & Cnty. of S.F., 266 F.3d 959, 968 (9th Cir. 2001). Evidence should be excluded pursuant to a motion in limine only when it is “inadmissible on all potential grounds.” Ind. Ins. Co. v. Gen. Elec. Co., 326 F. Supp. 2d 844, 846 (N.D. Ohio 2004). III. DISCUSSION A. Plaintiff’s Motions in Limine 1. Motion to Preclude Argument that Rain or Other Weather Conditions are Non-Fortuitous or “General Background Conditions” Plaintiff moves to bar Defendants from making any argument at trial that wind-driven rain and other similar weather conditions are expected conditions, and therefore not covered perils under the policy. Pl. Mot. at 2-4. Defendants, in response, explain that they do not intend to argue that rain cannot constitute a cause of loss for being, as a general matter, a non-fortuitous (i.e., expected) peril. Def. Opp. at 1-2. Rather, Defendants intend to argue that, “in the particular context of this case, rain should not be regarded as a cause’ of the loss at all” since it simply provided a background source of water that caused damage only after that water seeped into the Condominium. Id. at 2-3. According to Defendants, their “general background conditions”

ORDER RE: MOTIONS IN LIMINE - 2 argument raises a factual matter as to causation – specifically, when the causal chain resulting in damage first began – which should be reserved for the jury. The Court agrees with Plaintiff, and Defendants do not dispute, that Country should be precluded from arguing that the Condominium’s damage is excluded on the basis that rain is a non-fortuitous peril. As the Court held in resolving the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment, wind-driven rain is a covered peril under the policies. Dkt. 51 at 9-10. Given the extent to which rain is regularly expected in Washington, any argument that rain constitutes a non- fortuitous peril would, if successful, transform rain from a covered peril into an excluded peril. See Sunwood Condo. Ass’n v. Travelers Cas. Ins. Co. of Am., No. 16-cv-1012, 2017 WL 5499809, at *3 (W.D. Wash. Nov. 16, 2017) (“[The] policy contains no exclusion for rain, and [insurer] cannot create one with a fortuitousness argument.”). Country will not be permitted to ask the jury to rewrite its policy in such a way. Accordingly, Defendants are barred from arguing that rain is a non-fortuitous peril. On the other hand, the Court will not bar Defendants from arguing that rain, in this case, operated as a “general background condition.” Defendants, by their argument, seek to present to the jury an alternate version of the causal chain that led to the alleged damage – i.e., a chain that began with water seeping into the Condominium’s walls, and not one that began with rain. While Country may not argue that rain is an excluded peril under the policy, it may attempt to persuade the jury that rain, as a factual matter, did not play a role in the causal chain that resulted in the Condominium’s damage. This is a factual question that is properly reserved for the jury. Accordingly, the Court grants Plaintiff’s motion in part, and denies it in part, as explained above.

ORDER RE: MOTIONS IN LIMINE - 3 2. Motion to Preclude Evidence or Argument that Claims are Barred by the Known Loss Defense because the Association Should Have Known about the Damage when It Purchased Its Policy Plaintiff argues that Defendants should not be allowed to argue or present evidence that the Association “should have known” about the Condominium’s damage when it first purchased insurance. Pl. Mot. at 4-5. As the Court has observed, “the known loss doctrine requires an insurer to demonstrate actual knowledge of the claimed loss, not merely that an insured should have known that repairs would be needed.” Dkt. No. 51 at 6. Plaintiff argues that evidence or argument that it should have known of the damage will confuse or mislead the jury as to the correct standard for the known loss defense, and that such evidence and argument should therefore be excluded under Federal Rule of Evidence 403. Defendants will not be allowed (nor apparently do they intend) to argue that the standard for the known loss defense is that an insured “should have known” about the damage at issue. However, the Court will not exclude Country’s expert opinion testimony that the Association should have known about the damage at issue. Such testimony may bear on the Association’s actual knowledge or otherwise create an inference of actual knowledge. As Defendants succinctly and correctly state, “[e]vidence that the Association should have known something supports the inference that it did know it.” Def. Opp. at 3. Plaintiff’s concern that such testimony could cause confusion about the legal standard on the known loss defense will be addressed by the Court’s instruction to the jury, at the appropriate time, as to the correct standard. Plaintiff’s motion is therefore denied as set forth above. 3. Motion to Preclude Evidence or Argument that Coverage is Barred by the Policy’s Suit Limitation Provision Plaintiff moves to preclude Defendants from arguing that coverage is barred by the policy’s two-year suit limitation provision, on the ground that the Association filed suit less than two years

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Westboro Condominium Association v. Country Casualty Insurance Company, (W.D. Wash. 2023).

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