A magistrate judge in Florida has concluded that a commercial general liability insurance policy did not cover an underlying plaintiff's allegations that the insured had injured his “good reputation.”
The Case
Frank Speciale sued Tierra Del Mar Condominium Association, Inc., and Brian Upton, a member of the association's board of directors and its president. Mr. Speciale, the owner of two Tierra Del Mar condominium units, alleged that he was the “target” of Mr. Upton's “animosity” and that Mr. Upton harbored “deep seated malice and ill-will against” Mr. Speciale that resulted in him publishing false and defamatory statements about Mr. Speciale.
Mr. Speciale alleged that Mr. Upton “maliciously, willfully, knowingly and intentionally published written and oral false statements” about Mr. Speciale.
Mr. Speciale claimed that Mr. Upton's malicious and intentionally false statements had “damaged” his “good reputation,” and that Mr. Upton had a “bad faith motive to harm [him].”
Amica Mutual Insurance Company, which had issued an umbrella insurance policy to Mr. Speciale, asserted that United Specialty Insurance Company, Mr. Speciale's commercial general liability insurance carrier, had a duty to defend and indemnify Mr. Upton in Mr. Speciale's action.
United argued among other things that the Speciale complaint did not allege an “occurrence.”
Amica sued United, which moved to dismiss.
The Court's Decision
The court pointed out that Mr. Speciale's complaint did not allege that Mr. Upton had caused Mr. Speciale to suffer bodily injury or property damage. Rather, the court said, Mr. Speciale only alleged unspecified damages and harm to his “good reputation.”
According to the court, this was “not the sort of physical, tangible harm contemplated by” the United policy's bodily injury and property damage liability provisions.
Therefore, the court decided, Mr. Upton was not entitled to insurance coverage under those provisions.
The court also determined that there was no personal and advertising injury coverage under the United policy, finding among other things that exclusions barring coverage when it was alleged that the insured knew his statements would inflict “personal and advertising injury” and when the insured knew his statements were false were unambiguous and permitted United to deny coverage.
The case is Amica Mutual Ins. Co. v. RSUI Indemnity Co., No. 9:19-CV-80010-Rosenberg/Reinhart (S.D. Fla. March 4, 2019). Attorneys involved include: For Amica Mutual Insurance Company, Plaintiff: James Joseph McNally, LEAD ATTORNEY, Quintairos Prieto Wood Boyer, P.A., miami, FL; Alexandra Castro, Quintairos Prieto Wood & Boyer, P.A., Miami, fl. For RSUI Indemnity Company, Defendant: Ashley R Kellgren, Michael Keegan Kiernan, LEAD ATTORNEYS, TRAUB LIEBERMAN STRAUS & SHREWSBERRY LLP, St. Petersburg, FL. For United Specialty Insurance Company, Defendant: James Miller Kaplan, Kimberly Sarah Heifferman, Kaplan Zeena LLP, Miami, FL. For Tierra Del Mar Condominium Association, Inc., Defendant: Angela Prudenti, LEAD ATTORNEY, Sachs Sax Caplan, Boca Raton, FL.
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].