Allstate Indemnity Company v. Messina

Background

Allstate Indemnity Company and Castle Key Indemnity Company brought this declaratory-judgment action seeking a ruling that their respective insurance policies with Marc L. Messina did not require them to defend or indemnify him in an underlying wrongful-death lawsuit. That lawsuit alleged that Messina drugged and sexually assaulted Beth Skelton in a hotel room where he resided, and that she later died by suicide after suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety allegedly caused by his conduct.

Messina did not file a response brief to the summary-judgment motion but submitted an affidavit denying the intentional and negligent acts alleged by Corey Skelton. Corey Skelton opposed the motion and argued that the policies provided coverage.

Policies and governing law

The Allstate personal umbrella policy covered damages for bodily injury, personal injury, or property damage arising from a covered “occurrence,” defined as an accident. It defined personal injury to include damages resulting from false arrest, false imprisonment, or wrongful detention. The policy excluded bodily injury, personal injury, or property damage intended by, or reasonably expected to result from, an insured person’s intentional or criminal acts. It also excluded occurrences arising from a business or business property.

The Castle Key renters policy covered damages for bodily injury or property damage arising from a covered occurrence, also defined as an accident. It contained an exclusion for bodily injury or property damage intended by, or reasonably expected to result from, an insured person’s intentional or criminal acts.

Both policies stated that Florida law governed disputes related to the policies. The court therefore applied Florida law to the policy-interpretation issues. Under Florida law, the insured must first show that a claim is covered; the insurer then bears the burden of proving that an exclusion applies. For the duty to defend, the court generally considers the allegations in the underlying complaint.

Coverage analysis

The court considered only the allegations in the second amended complaint and its attached exhibits. It concluded that the alleged sexual assault was not an “occurrence” because it was not unexpected or unintended from Messina’s standpoint. The court relied on Florida decisions holding that sexual assault of an incapacitated person is an intentional act and that the resulting harm inheres in the prohibited conduct.

The court rejected Skelton’s argument that the Allstate policy’s coverage for personal injuries involving false imprisonment conflicted with its exclusion for intentional acts. Although the complaint used the phrase “falsely imprisoned,” it asserted only a wrongful-death claim based on the alleged sexual assault. The court found no separate false-imprisonment claim because the complaint did not allege that Beth was aware of her confinement or that Messina prevented her from leaving. The references to false imprisonment described conduct occurring together with, and as part of, the alleged sexual assault.

The court also rejected reliance on Florida’s concurrent-cause doctrine, which can allow coverage when separate and independent causes contribute to a loss and at least one cause is covered. The court found that the alleged false imprisonment and sexual assault were dependent and intertwined, rather than separate and distinct causes.

Disposition

The court held that the wrongful-death allegations were not covered under either policy because they described a sexual assault that was neither unexpected nor unintended. It further held that the intentional-acts exclusions applied and that the false-imprisonment references did not trigger coverage.

The court granted Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment. It declared that Allstate Indemnity Company and Castle Key Indemnity Company had no obligation to defend or indemnify Marc L. Messina in the underlying lawsuit, and directed that judgment be entered accordingly.