DECEMBER 2017 BAD FAITH CASES: NO BAD FAITH WHERE NO COVERAGE OWED, APPLYING EXCLUSION FOR ACTIONS AS OFFICER OF ANOTHER ENTITY (Philadelphia Federal)
The plaintiff served in various official roles for the insured corporation. The insurer issued a DO&E policy to the corporate insured.
The plaintiff and another entity filed a conservatorship petition over property owned by the Underlying Plaintiffs. The Underlying Plaintiffs sued the plaintiff, that other entity, and the insured corporation for allegedly making false statements in the conservatorship petition as part of a “plan to run the [property owners] out of the neighborhood.” The court in the underlying action, however, dismissed all claims with prejudice against the insured corporation. The jury returned a verdict for the Underlying Plaintiffs, and against the plaintiff, among others.
The DO&E policy contained a coverage exclusion that stated, “The Insurer shall not pay Loss . . . (I) of an Insured Person based upon, arising from, or in any way related to such Insured Person’s service, at any time, as a director, officer, trustee, regent, governor, or equivalent executive or as an employee of any entity other than an Insured Entity . . . .” The insurer withdrew its defense of the plaintiff under this exclusion after the the insured corporation was dismissed with prejudice. The plaintiff then brought this action against the insurer for bad faith and breach of contract.
The court converted the insurer’s motion to dismiss into a summary judgment motion. The court stated, “it is the duty of the insurer to defend until such time as the claim is confined to a recovery that the policy does not cover.” When an underlying plaintiff drops an insured claim, this constitutes “absolutely clear” evidence that the action seeks relief that is not covered under the policy.
The court held that the insurer had no duty to defend the plaintiff once the underlying court dismissed the insured from that action. The court rejected the idea that insured corporation tacitly approved the plaintiff’s actions in filing the conservatorship petition because the insured was in no way involved in that petition. Furthermore, the plaintiff did not serve the insured corporation’s interest in any official capacity at the time the conservatorship petition was filed and “it is undisputed that [the plaintiff] . . . filed the conservatorship petition . . . in his capacity as President and owner of [another entity].”
The policy exclusion thus barred any coverage. Because the insurer did not owe a duty to defend or indemnify the plaintiff, his bad faith claim against the insurer necessarily failed.
