State Farm Shooting Defense Coverage Overview:
- Who: State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. is asking the court to rule that it doesn’t have to provide personal liability coverage to a man who is accused of shooting a minor in a movie theater.
- Why: State Farm says it only covers personal liability for “occurrences” not for intentional acts like shootings.
- Where: The case was filed in Pennsylvania federal court.
State Farm is asking a judge to rule that it has no obligation to pay out liability insurance to a man it insures who is in court accused of shooting a minor in a movie theater.
In a complaint filed Apr. 1 in a Pennsylvania federal court, State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. asked the judge to determine that it “has no obligation to defend and no obligation to indemnify” a man who is facing a lawsuit accusing him of shooting a minor in the leg.
State Farm said it had defended Chris A. Williams while reserving its right to deny coverage, but it is now seeking a ruling that it doesn’t owe him a defense against a suit from Anthony Ward, the person he allegedly shot in March 2019.
Williams is accused of negligently shooting Ward in the leg in a movie theater after following him, yelling a slur at him and pointing a gun in his face.
State Farm argues that its indemnity policy does not cover intentional acts and said that it regards Williams’ alleged actions as intentional.
“The Underlying Complaint asserts causes of action against Williams for assault and for battery based on Williams’ alleged intentional assault of Ward,” the court filings state. “For coverage to exist under the Homeowners Policy, the damages sought by Ward in the Underlying Action must be because of bodily injury that was caused by an occurrence, which is defined, in part, as an accident.”
Pursuant to Pennsylvania law, an “occurrence,” as used in liability policies like the Homeowners Policy, is interpreted to mean an “accident” or fortuitous event, the lawsuit states.
“Discharging a firearm ‘at’ and ‘in the direction of’ an individual after pointing said firearm at that individual is not a fortuitous event,” State Farm argued.
It argued that other Pennsylvania cases showed precedent in its favor.
State Farm Coverage Suit Claims Gun Discharged During Struggle
In the underlying complaint, Ward accuses Williams of calling him the N-word as he was walking down a hallway while leaving the theater.
Williams is then accused of pointing his gun at Ward after he turned around before they wrestled to the ground, according to the underlying suit.
While Ward tried to prevent Williams from discharging the gun, the gun discharged, injuring Ward in his lower right leg, according to the underlying suit.
Meanwhile, last year State Farm was ordered to pay $4.5 million in prejudgment interest to policyholders who alleged the insurer overcharged them on life insurance policies after the Eighth Circuit ruled in favor of the consumers for the second time.
Do you think State Farm should have to cover the indemnity insurance of Williams? Let us know in the comments.
State Farm is represented by Bradley J. Mortensen and Elizabeth A. Sutton of Kennedys CMK LLP.
The State Farm Indemnity Case is State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. v. Chris A. Williams et al. in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
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