Erie Ins. Exchange v. Muff
| Decision Date | 24 May 2004 |
| Citation | 851 A.2d 919,2004 Pa. Super. 177 |
| Parties | ERIE INSURANCE EXCHANGE, Appellant, v. Tricia Kravchak MUFF, Harry D. Muff, Jacob Bierling, Individually and as Parent & Legal Guardian of Madison Bierling, December'd and Kelsey Bierling, Individually, and as Parent & Legal Guardian of Madison Bierling, December'd, Appellees. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Superior Court |
Donald M. Grimes, Media, for appellant.
Robert C. Ewing, Media, for appellees.
Before: BENDER, BECK, and KELLY, JJ.
¶ 1 Appellant, Erie Insurance Exchange, asks us to review the order entered by the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas in this declaratory judgment action, ordering Appellant to defend its insured, Appellee Trisha Muff, in the civil action filed against her by Appellees Jacob and Kelsey Bierling ("the Bierlings"). Appellant asks us to determine, inter alia, whether Mrs. Muff's conviction for first degree murder of the Bierlings' infant daughter precludes the Bierlings from bringing a subsequent civil action against Mrs. Muff sounding in negligence. We hold that Mrs. Muff's criminal convictions do not conclusively establish her intent regarding the specific negligent acts alleged in the Bierlings' civil complaint. We also hold that the inferred intent rule has not yet been extended to the situation before us, where a complaint alleges negligent care of a child by a babysitter. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's order declaring Appellant's duty to defend Mrs. Muff against the Bierlings' civil complaint.
¶ 2 The relevant facts and procedural history of this case are as follows. On December 1, 1998, Mrs. Bierling dropped off her twelve month-old daughter, Madison Bierling, at the home of her babysitter, Mrs. Muff. Madison was in the sole care of Mrs. Muff for the entire day. When Mrs. Bierling returned to Mrs. Muff's residence to pick up her daughter later that day, she discovered Madison was in severe physical distress and immediately summoned an ambulance. Madison died on December 2, 1998.
¶ 3 Mrs. Muff was subsequently charged with Madison's death. On July 23, 1999, a jury convicted Mrs. Muff of first-degree murder,1 aggravated assault,2 and endangering the welfare of a child.3 On September 22, 1999, the court sentenced Mrs. Muff to a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.4
¶ 4 Subsequent to Mrs. Muff's criminal conviction and sentencing, the Bierlings, as individuals and as natural guardians of Madison, and Mr. Bierling, as administrator of Madison's estate, filed a civil action against Mrs. Muff. The trial court explained the nature of the Bierlings' complaint as follows:
The civil Complaint filed on their daughter's behalf by the [Bierlings] alleges that Mrs. Bierling delivered Madison to Mrs. Muff's residence for babysitting purposes at approximately 6:15 a.m. on Tuesday morning, December 1, 1998, and that from this time until Mrs. Bierling left the Muff residence at 6:45 a.m., the child had no physical injuries. The Bierlings contended that, at 9:30 a.m. that morning, Mrs. Muff took Madison and her own child to the back yard of the home. After witnessing Madison experience some difficulty breathing due to asthma, Mrs. Muff picked up both children and ran to the back door of the house, where she tripped and caused Madison Bierling to fall and hit her head twice on the concrete patio steps. The Bierlings claimed that Mrs. Muff neither called 911, nor otherwise sought medical attention for Madison, and that later the same day, while sitting in a recliner and attempting to feed Madison with a bottle, Mrs. Muff dropped the child to the floor "in an attempt to grab a cloth to clean milk off the infant child." The Bierlings further allege in their Complaint that, after Madison was dropped to the floor from the recliner, Mrs. Muff noticed that the child was in physical distress, but continued to avoid calling 911 and other appropriate professional medical personnel. The Bierlings' Complaint alleges that, "Tricia Muff phoned Madison Bierling's grandmother after the fall, but negligently failed to tell the grandmother of the incident", and, "[i]t was not until [Mrs.] Bierling returned to pick up her daughter at approximately 2:30 p.m. on December 1, 1998 that an ambulance was finally summoned at the insistence of [Mrs.] Bierling."
Paragraph 16 of the Bierlings' Civil action Complaint specifically avers that, "[a]s a direct and proximate result of the negligence, carelessness and recklessness actions and/or inactions of [Mrs.] Muff as aforesaid, or otherwise described within this [C]omplaint, Madison Bierling suffered serious, permanent, painful and fatal injuries...." The Bierlings again allege, in a section of their Complaint entitled, "Liability of the Defendant", that Madison's injuries were "the direct and proximate result of the negligent, careless, and/or reckless actions and/or inactions of [Mrs.] Muff which include, but are not limited, to the following:
A. Failing to take proper precautions by attempting to carry two infants at the same time.
B. Failing to follow basic standards of care, by running over hard surfaces and up stairs while attempting to carry two infants at the same time.
C. Failing to take proper precautions and prevent possible harm to [the Bierlings'] decedent Madison Bierling by running over ground that [Mrs.] Muff was aware was uneven.
D. Failing to take proper precautions and prevent possible harm to [the Bierlings'] decedent Madison Bierling by running up steps that [Mrs.] Muff was aware possessed a lip and presented a hazard.
E. Failing to take proper precautions and permitting [the Bierlings'] decedent Madison Bierling to fall from her grasp and strike the ground, while [Mrs.] Muff was running.
F. Failing to promptly notify the proper emergency medical services after [the Bierlings'] decedent Madison Bierling fell from her grasp and struck her head upon hard surfaces.
G. Failing to contact emergency medical services when [the Bierlings'] decedent, Madison Bierling, was in distress including being overly tired and was not breathing well.
H. Failing to obtain proper training in medical procedures, including knowing when to call for trained medical assistance.
I. Failing to promptly advise [Mrs. Bierling] that decedent Madison Bierling had fallen and struck her head. [Mrs.] Muff waited several hours after the fall to advise [Mrs.] Bierling of any problem with the child. Had [Mrs.] Muff sought immediate medical attention, the Decedent, Madison Bierling, would have survived her injuries.
J. Negligently dropping Madison Bierling on the floor in an effort to clean the infant.
K. Failure to provide adequate care to [the Bierlings'] decedent Madison Bierling, by placing her in a crib after known trauma without adequate medical attention, while the child had reduced movement and continued breathing difficulties.
L. Failure to provide adequate care to [the Bierlings'] decedent Madison Bierling, by ignoring signs of distress exhibited by the child, when [Mrs.] Muff went to wake her up from her nap.
M. Failing to provide an accurate description of the days [sic] events regarding the trauma to Madison Bierling to her mother and medical personnel in a timely manner so as to prevent further injury to the child.
N. Negligent care and supervision of the children and Madison Bierling.
(Trial Court Opinion, dated July 23, 2002, at 2-4) (internal citations to record omitted).
¶ 5 On October 27, 2000, Appellant filed this declaratory judgment action, seeking a determination that it owed no duty to defend or indemnify Mrs. Muff in the Bierlings' civil action. In response, the Bierlings filed a motion for summary judgment, which the court denied in an order filed November 30, 2001. Appellant filed its own motion for summary judgment on February 7, 2002. Following a hearing, the court denied and dismissed the claims for relief asserted in Appellant's motions for declaratory judgment and summary judgment in an order filed May 28, 2002. The May 28th order clarified Appellant's duty to defend Mrs. Muff against the Bierlings' civil compliant. This appeal followed.
¶ 6 Appellant raises the following issues for our review:
¶ 7 When reviewing a trial court's disposition in a declaratory judgment action:
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Thomas v. Benchmark Ins. Co.
...the consequences of his act, or believes that the consequences are substantially certain to result from it.'"); Erie Ins. Exchange v. Muff, 851 A.2d 919, 927-28 (Pa.Super.2004) (For purposes of an exclusionary clause's "`expected or intended' provision, `an insured intends an injury if he d......
-
Allstate Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Winslow
...the insured is found to be liable for a claim actually covered by the policy. Kvaerner, 908 A.2d at 896 n. 7 ; Erie Ins. Exchange v. Muff, 851 A.2d 919, 925 (Pa.Super.Ct.2004) ; Post v. St. Paul Travelers Ins. Co., 691 F.3d 500, 517 (3d Cir.2012) (citing Am. & Foreign Ins., 2 A.3d at 540 );......
-
Empire Fire and Marine Ins. Co. v. Jones
...Ex. A, p. 47). An insurance company bears the burden of proving the applicability of an exclusion to its coverage. See Erie Exchange v. Muff, 851 A.2d 919 (Pa.Super.2004) ("An insurer who disclaims its duty to defend based on a policy exclusion bears the burden of proving the applicability ......
-
Whole Enchilada v. Travelers Prop. Cas. Co.
...A. Duty to Defend Under Pennsylvania law, the duty to defend is broader than an insurer's duty to indemnify. Erie Insurance Exchange v. Muff, 851 A.2d 919, 925 (Pa.Super.2004). An insurer's duty to defend is determined by the allegations in the underlying complaint. Id. at 926; Cincinnati I......