Selective Insurance v. Oglebay , 242 F. App'x 104 ( 2007 )

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 05-2357
SELECTIVE INSURANCE COMPANY,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
THOMAS L. OGLEBAY; CARMELLA BONE, Individually
and as next friend and legal guardian of
Tracey M. Mayhew,
Defendants - Appellants.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Baltimore. Andre M. Davis, District Judge. (CA-05-
951)
Argued: September 20, 2006 Decided: July 17, 2007
Before MICHAEL, Circuit Judge, N. Carlton TILLEY, Jr., United
States District Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina,
sitting by designation, and Thomas E. JOHNSTON, United States
District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia, sitting
by designation.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
ARGUED: Byron Leslie Warnken, WARNKEN, L.L.C., Towson, Maryland,
for Appellants. Stephen Salvatore McCloskey, SEMMES, BOWEN &
SEMMES, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Michael
Patrick Lytle, WARNKEN, L.L.C., Towson, Maryland; Stephen Allen
Markey, III, Towson, Maryland, for Appellants.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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PER CURIUM:
Carmella Bone, as assignee of Thomas Oglebay’s claim, appeals
the ruling of the district court granting summary judgment for
Selective Insurance Company ("Selective"). The declaratory
judgment action was brought by Selective seeking a ruling that
Selective did not have a duty to defend under an insurance policy
issued by Selective. We affirm the opinion of the district court
denying coverage.
I.
In accordance with the agreed statement of facts submitted by
the parties, the facts of the case are as follows: Selective
issued a Commercial General Liability policy to A. Widmeyer Driving
School("Widmeyer"). (Joint Appendix at 50, ¶1). Widmeyer is the
only named insured on the policy. (JA at 50,¶ 2). The Selective
policy does not specifically identify Thomas Oglebay as an
"insured" under the policy. (JA at 50,¶ 3). The definition of the
term "insured" includes "employees . . . but only for acts within
the scope of their employment by you or while performing duties
related to the conduct of your business." (JA at 50, ¶ 4). The
Selective policy provides coverage for damages due to "bodily
injury" and "personal and advertising injury." (JA at 50,¶¶ 5-7).
Widmeyer employed Mr. Oglebay to teach driving instruction.
(JA at 51,¶ 8). Tracey Mayhew is a mildly mentally retarded adult
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who was enrolled at Widmeyer by her mother, Carmella Bone, pursuant
to a special program where individuals with learning disabilities
could learn to drive. (JA at 51,¶ 9).
In March and April 2002, when Mr. Oglebay was supposed to be
teaching Ms. Mayhew how to drive, Mr. Oglebay sexually assaulted
Ms. Mayhew. (JA at 51,¶ 10). In particular, following classes at
the driving school after other students had left, Mr. Oglebay began
to sexually abuse Ms. Mayhew. (JA at 51,¶ 10). Mr. Oglebay
continued his activity during driving sessions in a vehicle owned
by Widmeyer and at Mr. Oglebay's personal residence. (JA at 51,¶
10, 17). All contact between Mr. Oglebay and Ms. Mayhew occurred
during the period of time that Ms. Mayhew was scheduled for driving
instruction. (JA at 53,¶ 18). Mr. Oglebay has stated that he did
not expect or intend to injure Ms. Mayhew through his conduct.
(JA at 53,¶ 19).
When Ms. Bone became aware of the abuse, she filed a civil
action in Maryland state court against Mr. Oglebay and Widmeyer
alleging "various acts of vulnerable adult abuse, sexual assault,
battery, and rape upon Ms. Mayhew." (JA at 51,¶ 10). The state
court entered summary judgment in favor of Ms. Bone on a false
imprisonment claim. (JA at 53,¶ 20). After the entry of summary
judgment, Ms. Bone and Mr. Oglebay agreed to a consent judgment
against him in the amount of $300,000 apportioned as follows:
$275,000 for emotional pain and suffering sustained as a result of
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the false imprisonment and negligence claims and $25,000 for Ms.
Bone for past and future economic damages. (JA at 54,¶ 21). Ms.
Bone agreed not to attempt to collect anything in excess of $10,000
personally from Mr. Oglebay in exchange for Mr. Oglebay's
assignment of rights against Selective. (JA at 54,¶ 22). At all
times during the course of the state tort suit, Selective took the
position that it had no duty to defend or indemnify Mr. Oglebay.
(JA at 54,¶ 23).
Following entry of judgment in the state court action,
Selective filed a declaratory judgment action in the United States
District Court for the District of Maryland seeking a declaration
of coverage under the policy. Both parties filed motions for
summary judgment.
The district court granted Selective's motion for summary
judgment holding that there was no coverage because Mr. Oglebay was
not an "insured" as that term is defined in the policy. At the
district court, the parties agreed that under Maryland law, the
intentional acts committed by Mr. Oglebay were not "within the
scope of his employment" and that the dispositive issue before the
district court was whether Mr. Oglebay's acts were committed "while
performing duties related to the conduct" of Widmeyer (the "while
performing duties" provision).
The district court noted that the "while performing duties"
provision "must be interpreted consonant with, even if more broadly
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than, the 'scope of employment' phrase." Ultimately, however, the
district court found there was no coverage under the policy. In
particular, the district court noted that the acts occurred during
Mr. Oglebay's working hours, but rejected the argument that the
"while performing duties" clause was broad enough to encompass
intentional sexual misconduct. Ms. Bone timely filed a Notice of
Appeal. We review de novo the district court's grant of summary
judgment. Laber v. Harvey, 438 F.3d 404, 415 (4th Cir.2006) (en
banc).
II.
Under Maryland law, an insurer is obligated to provide its
insured with a defense to a tort action when there exists a
potentiality that the claim could be covered by the policy.
Montgomery County Bd. of Educ. v. Horace Mann Ins. Co., 383 Md.
527, 860 A.2d 909, 915 (2004); Litz v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co.,
346 Md. 217, 225, 695 A.2d 566, 570 (1997)(explaining that "the
mere possibility that the insurer will have to indemnify triggers
the duty to defend").
This potentiality determination typically involves a two part
test: (1) what coverage and defenses exist under the terms of the
policy; and (2) whether the allegations in the tort action
potentially bring the tort claim within the policy's coverage. St.
Paul Fire & Mar. Ins. v. Pryseski, 292 Md. 187, 193, 438 A.2d 282,
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285 (1981). The first factor "focuses upon the language and
requirements of the policy, and the second [factor] focuses upon
the allegations of the tort suit." Id. Moreover, it is well-
established under Maryland law that any doubt as to whether there
is a potentiality of coverage under an insurance policy should be
"resolved in favor of the insured." See U.S.F. & G. v. Nat'l Pav.
Co., 228 Md. 40, 55, 178 8 A.2d 872, 879 (1962).
The question before this court is whether the district court
properly concluded that Mr. Oglebay's actions were not acts
committed "while performing duties related to the conduct of"
Widmeyer's business. Ms. Bone asserts that the "while performing
duties" provision must be construed more broadly than the "scope of
employment" provision and that when construed broadly, the "while
performing duties" provision would provide coverage for Mr.
Oglebay's conduct. Specifically, Ms. Bone asserts that because all
of Mr. Oglebay's misconduct was committed during the time that Mr.
Oglebay was supposed to be teaching Ms. Mayhew how to drive, such
conduct was committed while Mr. Oglebay was performing duties
related to the conduct of his employer. Essentially, Ms. Bone
claims that Mr. Oglebay's tortious conduct is covered under the
"while performing duties" provision because there is a temporal-
spatial connection between his duties as a Widmeyer driving
instructor and his tortious conduct.
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Maryland courts have not yet interpreted the "while performing
duties" provision specifically at issue in the case. In Fed. Ins.
Co. v. Ward, 166 Fed. App'x 24 (4th Cir. 2006) (unpublished
opinion), we had occasion recently to address the interpretation of
a nearly identical insurance policy provision under Virginia law
and find that approach instructive here.
The question before the court in Ward was whether an employee
who was finishing her day's work and locking up the business'
premises was acting "while performing duties related to the conduct
of [the employer's] business" when she flicked her cigarette ashes
into a wastebasket, resulting in a fire that destroyed the
building. We conducted our analysis by identifying the discreet
act in question, flicking cigarette ashes, and comparing that with
her duties as an employee: "Indeed, because the act of smoking was
not within the Employees' job description or needed to perform a
job-related duty, the subsidiary act of flicking ashes also cannot
be characterized as the exercise of a duty."
In this case, the act complained about is false imprisonment
arising from sexual abuse and sexual assault. There is no
suggestion that sexual contact in any form constituted part of
Oglebay's job description nor that the subsidiary act of
accomplishing it in an assaultive way could be characterized as the
exercise of a duty.
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To perform the analysis using the more expansive temporal-
spatial criteria rejected by the panel in Ward would result in
coverage for a "virtually limitless number of activities" beyond
the anticipation of either the insurer or the employer simply
because they "coincide with a job-related duty." Ms. Bone cites no
authority suggesting that the Maryland courts would adopt that
approach, and we have found none.
In Wolfe v. Anne Arundel County, 374 Md. 20, 821 A.2d 52(2003), the Court of Appeals of Maryland specifically rejected a
temporal-spatial argument similar to the argument advanced by Ms.
Bone. The Wolfe court had to determine whether a tort suit
resulting from a rape committed by an on-duty police officer was
covered by a collective bargaining agreement that provided coverage
for "litigation arising out of acts within the scope of his/her
employment." Id. at 31, 821 A.2d at 58. The rape victim in Wolfe
had asserted that "'but for' [the officer's] position as a county
police officer he could not have gained access to and control of
his victim and the opportunity to rape her inside the police
vehicle." Id. at 32 n.4, 821 A.2d at 59 n.4.
The Wolfe court rejected this "but for" argument noting that
"the litigation arose out of the 'act' of raping Ms. Wolfe and not
out of the 'act' of the traffic stop." Id. at 36, 821 A.2d at 61.
The Wolfe case involved interpretation of a clause containing the
phrase "scope of employment" and thus is not dispositive of the
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issue before us, namely interpretation of the more broad "while
performing duties" provision. However, the Wolfe court's rejection
of a temporal-spatial standard is instructive in predicting the
manner in which Maryland courts would interpret the "while
performing duties" provision at issue here.
In this case, Widmeyer's business was providing driving
instruction. As a Widmeyer employee, Mr. Oglebay's duties were to
teach his students, such as Ms. Mayhew, how to drive. It is
undisputed, however, that Mr. Oglebay was not teaching Ms. Mayhew
how to drive during the times that Ms. Mayhew was with him.
Rather, Mr. Oglebay sexually assaulted Ms. Mayhew in lieu of
performing his duties, i.e. providing driving instruction. Mr.
Oglebay's sexual assault of Ms. Mayhew, even if committed during
the time or at a place related to his employment as a driving
instructor, was certainly not the performance of a duty related to
the conduct of his employer's business.
III.
Ms. Bone also argues that the district court erred by
"ignoring the underlying trial court's finding on the merits that
Oglebay falsely imprisoned Tracey Mayhew which was specifically
covered under the policy." (JA at 295). In support of this issue,
Ms. Bone refers to a portion of the policy that specifically
provides coverage for claims of false imprisonment. Ms. Bone
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asserts that because the complaint in the underlying tort action
specifically included a claim for false imprisonment there was at
least the possibility of coverage, thus triggering the duty to
defend.
As noted above, application of the potentiality standard under
Maryland law requires consideration of two questions. First, what
coverage and defenses exist under the terms of the policy? Second,
do the allegations in the tort action potentially bring the tort
claim within the policy's coverage?
Here, the policy provides coverage for damages resulting from
"false imprisonment." The complaint in the underlying tort suit
included a section entitled "Facts Applicable to All Counts." (JA
at 133-34). The factual recitation in this portion of the
complaint focuses exclusively on the sexual misconduct of Mr.
Oglebay. Id. Moreover, the "False Imprisonment" section of the
complaint, Count III, states that "Oglebay's repeated acts of
sexual assault and battery and vulnerable adult abuse, as described
previously in this Complaint, constituted intentional acts of force
or threats of force that restrained Tracey Mayhew." JA at 136.
Thus, although the complaint identifies a claim for "false
imprisonment," the factual allegations supporting the false
imprisonment claim arise exclusively from the sexual misconduct of
Mr. Oglebay. As discussed in detail above, Mr. Oglebay is not an
insured under the policy for such conduct.
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The trial court did not err by not considering whether the
fact that false imprisonment is covered under the policy would
create a potentiality of coverage triggering the duty to defend.
The judgment of the district court is
AFFIRMED.
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