A Delaware state court has ruled that a homeowners' insurance policy did not cover claims arising from the insured's son's intentional act of shooting a paintball gun at a friend, which damaged his eye.
The Case
Chad Wilkerson used a paintball gun to intentionally shoot a paintball at a group of friends, hitting Ethan Joseph's eye. Ethan Joseph and his parents sued Chad Wilkerson and his parents.
State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, which had issued a homeowner's insurance policy to Chad Wilkerson's parents, went to court, seeking a declaratory judgment as to whether it was obligated to defend or indemnify the Wilkersons as a result of the lawsuit brought against them by the Josephs.
At Chad Wilkerson's deposition, the following questions were asked and answers provided:
Q. You intended to shoot it at the group of people, is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. When you pulled the trigger on the paintball marker, and it was in the direction of Joseph what did you expect to happen?
A. I expected to, you know, get everyone wanting to play paintball.
Q. When you pulled the trigger on the paintball marker while it was pointed in the direction of Ethan Joseph, did you intend to hit him?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And you intended to hit him where?
A. Feet, knees, somewhere low. It wasn't even exactly at Ethan, like in particular. It was just any of them really, to be honest.
Q. So you intended to him [sic] maybe somebody?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you understand that shooting the paintball marker at somebody may cause injury?
A. Yes.
The parties moved for summary judgment.
The State Farm Policy
The State Farm policy provided that if a suit was brought:
against an insured for damages because of bodily injury or property damage to which coverage applies, caused by an occurrence
State Farm would pay up to its limits of liability:
for the damages for which the insured is legally liable
and would:
provide a defense
Excluded from coverage was:
bodily injury or property damage which is either expected or intended by the insuredThe Court's Decision
The court granted summary judgment in favor of State Farm.
In its decision, the court concluded that Chad Wilkerson “should have known that there was a substantial probability that his conduct could have seriously injured Ethan's eye.” He was “using a gun that fires a paintball” and “knew that the paintball could cause injury,” the court added. Notwithstanding that, the court said, he “used the gun to fire a paintball at a group of kids that included Ethan.”
In the court's view, it should have come as “no surprise” to Chad Wilkerson that he “seriously injured Ethan's eye, which is probably the most unprotected and therefore the most vulnerable part of a person's body.”
The court concluded by stating that it “certainly” agreed with State Farm “that this type of intentional conduct that create[d] a substantial probability of injury to another person [was] excluded from the homeowner's insurance policy that it issued to Chad's parents.”
The case is State Farm Fire and Cas. Co. v. Wilkerson, No. S14-09-014 ESB (Del. Super.Ct. June 7, 2016). Attorneys involved include: Susan List Hauske, Esquire, Tybout, Redfearn & Pell, 750 Shipyard Drive, Suite 400, P.O. Box 2092, Wilmington, DE 19899; Paul G. Enterline, Esquire, 113 South Race Street, P.O. Box 826, Georgetown, Delaware 19947; Debra C. Aldrich, Esquire, Doroshow, Pasquale, Krawitz & Bhaya, 28535 DuPont Boulevard, Suite #2, Millsboro, Delaware 19966.
Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].