Allstate Ins. Co. v. Steele, 95-1892
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit) |
| Writing for the Court | Before BOWMAN, BEAM, and MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD; MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD |
| Citation | 74 F.3d 878 |
| Parties | ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee, v. Teresa J. STEELE and James O'Hara, Defendants, and Lynn M. STEELE, Custodial Parent and Natural Guardian of B.S., a Minor, Appellant. |
| Docket Number | No. 95-1892,95-1892 |
| Decision Date | 26 January 1996 |
Page 878
v.
Teresa J. STEELE and James O'Hara, Defendants,
and
Lynn M. STEELE, Custodial Parent and Natural Guardian of
B.S., a Minor, Appellant.
Eighth Circuit.
Decided Jan. 26, 1996.
Page 879
John Garrett Westrick, St. Paul, Minnesota, for appellant.
Thomas H. Crouch, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Appearing on the brief was Christopher J. Schulte, for appellee.
Before BOWMAN, BEAM, and MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, Circuit Judges.
MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, Circuit Judge.
Lynn Steele appeals the district court's 1 order granting summary judgment to Allstate Insurance Company and denying her motion to certify certain state-law issues to the Minnesota Supreme Court. We affirm.
Page 880
I.
This case arises out of wrongful sexual contact between children. In 1993, B.S. (then twelve years old) was raped by her sixteen-year-old stepbrother, James O'Hara, while she was visiting her father and stepmother (Scott and Teresa Steele). Following the rape, B.S.'s mother, Lynn Steele, sued O'Hara, Scott and Teresa Steele, and James Timothy O'Hara (the minor O'Hara's father) in Minnesota state court. Lynn Steele alleged that the rape was the culmination of several years of escalating sexual advances by the younger O'Hara toward her daughters B.S. and K.S. She sought damages for both of her daughters against the younger O'Hara for assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional harm, and against the adult defendants for negligent supervision, negligent failure to protect B.S. and K.S., and negligent infliction of emotional harm.
Allstate Insurance Company then sought a declaratory judgment in federal district court to the effect that none of the seven Deluxe Homeowners Policies it issued to Scott and Teresa Steele between 1987 and 1994 covered damages resulting from the younger O'Hara's sexual misconduct. In response, Lynn Steele moved in the district court for a stay of the proceedings and for certification of certain insurance coverage questions to the Minnesota Supreme Court. The district court denied the motion for stay and certification and granted summary judgment to Allstate. See Allstate Ins. Co. v. Steele, 885 F.Supp. 189, 193-94 (D.Minn.1995). The district court held that the policies covered only accidents, not intentional sexual misconduct, and that the negligence claims against Scott and Teresa Steele were barred by the policies' "joint obligations" clause. Id. at 192-93. Lynn Steele now appeals.
II.
Lynn Steele contends that the district court granted summary judgment prematurely. She argues that, given time to conduct discovery, she might uncover material facts that would preclude summary judgment. We disagree. This case presents only questions of law, and the district court correctly determined that the homeowners policies do not cover Lynn Steele's claims against James O'Hara and Scott and Teresa Steele. For reasons that appear hereafter, no amount of discovery can change that fact.
A.
The homeowners policy in effect at the time O'Hara raped B.S. (the district court found that all of the policies contain substantially identical language) specifically states that Allstate only covers "damages which an insured person becomes legally obligated to pay because of bodily injury ... arising from an accident " (emphasis added). It has long been established under Minnesota law that the word "accident" in insurance policies must be given its common, ordinary meaning, see, e.g., Bobich v. Oja, 258 Minn. 287, 104 N.W.2d 19, 24 (1960), that is, "an unexpected happening without intention or design," Weis v. State Farm Mutual Auto Ins. Co., 242 Minn. 141, 64 N.W.2d 366, 368 (1954). Because we agree with the district court that "James O'Hara's intentional and...
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