Robinson v. Allstate Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 24 January 2018
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 16–3575
• Citation: 306 F.Supp.3d 672
• Parties: Louise E. ROBINSON, Plaintiff, v. ALLSTATE PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE CO., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

306 F.Supp.3d 672

Louise E. ROBINSON, Plaintiff,

v.ALLSTATE PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE CO., Defendant.

Civ. No. 16–3575

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

Signed January 24, 2018

Charles R. Mathis, IV, Robert Trautmann, Merlin Law Group PA, Red Bank, NJ, Michael W. Duffy, Merlin Law Group, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.

Christian P. Labletta, Labletta & Walters LLC, Conshohocken, PA, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM

Paul S. Diamond, District Judge

In this coverage dispute, I must decide whether an insured can recover under a homeowners' policy for fire damage to her residence when her mentally disturbed husband—also an insured—intentionally set the fire. Because both the policy and the law preclude any recovery, I will dismiss the wife's breach of contract claim and grant summary judgment in the carrier's favor.

I. LEGAL STANDARDS—SUMMARY JUDGMENT

I may grant summary judgment "if there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). The moving party must initially show the absence of any genuine issue of material fact. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). An issue is material only if it could affect the result of the suit under governing law. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). I "must view the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party," and make every reasonable inference in that party's favor. Hugh v. Butler Cty. Family YMCA, 418 F.3d 265, 267 (3d Cir. 2005). If I then determine that there is no genuine issue of material fact, summary judgment is appropriate. See Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

Summary judgment is appropriate where the moving party shows that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party. See id. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548. "A nonmoving party must adduce more than a mere scintilla of evidence in its favor ... and cannot simply reassert factually unsupported allegations contained in its pleadings." Williams v. Borough of W. Chester, Pa., 891 F.2d 458, 460 (3d Cir. 1989) (citing Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, and Celotex, 477 U.S. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548 ). Where a moving party identifies an absence of necessary evidence, the nonmoving party "must rebut the motion with facts in the record and cannot rest solely on assertions made in the pleadings, legal memoranda, or oral argument." Berckeley Inv. Grp., Ltd. v. Colkitt, 455 F.3d 195, 201 (3d Cir. 2006).

II. LEGAL STANDARDS—INTERPRETATION OF INSURANCE CONTRACTS

The Parties and I agree that the Policy at issue here is governed by Pennsylvania law, under which:

the interpretation of a contract of insurance is a matter of law for the courts to decide. In interpreting an insurance contract, we must ascertain the intent of the parties as manifested by the language of the written agreement. When the policy language is clear and unambiguous, we will give effect to the language of the contract. However, where the policy language is ambiguous, it is to be construed in favor of the insured and against the insurer, the drafter of the agreement.

Allstate Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Squires, 667 F.3d 388, 391 (3d Cir. 2012) (citations and quotations omitted). "Contractual language is ambiguous ‘if it is reasonably susceptible of different constructions and capable of being understood in more than one sense.’ " 401 Fourth St., Inc. v. Inv'rs Ins. Grp., 583 Pa. 445, 879 A.2d 166, 171 (2005) (quoting Madison Const. Co. v. Harleysville Mut. Ins. Co., 557 Pa. 595, 735 A.2d 100, 106 (1999) ). The court should not consider isolated individual terms but should instead consider the entire contractual provision to determine the parties' intent. NorFab Corp. v. Travelers Indem. Co., 555 F.Supp.2d 505, 509 (E.D. Pa. 2008).

Finally, in a coverage dispute, the insured must make a prima facie showing that her claim is covered by the subject policy. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Estate of Mehlman, 589 F.3d 105, 111 (3d Cir. 2009). If coverage is shown, the insurer must then establish that an exclusion applies. Id.

III. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Invoking diversity jurisdiction, on June 29, 2016, Plaintiff Louise Robinson sued Defendant Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance Co., alleging breach of contract, common law bad faith, and statutory bad faith. (Compl., Doc. No. 1); 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Allstate moved to dismiss the Complaint for failure to join an indispensable party, to dismiss the common law bad faith count as non-cognizable, and to strike some of Plaintiff's monetary claims. (Doc. No. 2.) I denied without prejudice Allstate's Motion to Dismiss the Complaint, dismissed Plaintiff's common law and statutory bad faith claims, and struck Plaintiff's claim for attorneys' fees. (Doc. No. 12.)

At the conclusion of discovery, the Parties cross-moved for summary judgment. (Doc. Nos. 46, 47.) Plaintiff also moved to reinstate her statutory bad faith claim. (Doc. No. 47.) The matter was fully briefed and I denied Plaintiff's motions for summary judgment and to reinstate her statutory bad faith claim. (Doc. Nos. 48, 49, 52, 58, 60, 61.) All that remains is Allstate's Motion for Summary Judgment on Plaintiff's breach of contract claim. (Doc. No. 46.)

IV. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

I have resolved all disputes in Plaintiff's favor and construed the undisputed facts in the light most favorable to her. See Hugh v. Butler Cty. Family YMCA, 418 F.3d 265, 267 (3d Cir. 2005).

A. The Insurance Policy

Allstate issued the Policy insuring the Philadelphia home of Plaintiff and her husband, Willie Robinson, both of whom are "named insureds." (Homeowners Policy 6, Doc. No. 46–4.) The Policy imposes "joint obligations on persons defined as an insured person," meaning that "the responsibilities, acts and failures to act of a person defined as an insured person will be binding upon another person defined as an insured person." (Id. at 34.)

The Policy provides, inter alia , "Dwelling Protection" and "Personal Property Protection"; both apply only to "sudden and accidental direct physical loss" to the property. (Id. at 36–39.) Allstate also included a provision common to almost all homeowners policies, excluding from both "Dwelling Protection" and "Personal Property Protection" loss caused by "intentional or criminal acts of or at the direction of any insured person, if the loss that occurs: a) may be reasonably expected to result from such acts; or b) is the intended result of such acts." (Id. at 45.)

B. The Fire

On the morning of October 26, 2015, Plaintiff called 911 because she "want[ed] someone to get her husband," who was "armed with a torch." (Phila. Police Dep't, Incident History Details, Oct. 26, 2015, Doc. No. 46–5.) Plaintiff told the operator that she smelled kerosene and smoke and that the fire alarm was going off. (Id. ) When the police arrived, "[Mr. Robinson] stated to police that he set the fire because ‘his house is demonic and needs to be taken down.’ " (Phila. Police Dep't, Complaint or Incident Report, Oct. 26, 2015, Doc. No. 46–7.) The police arrested Mr. Robinson. (Id.; Pl.'s Dep. 31:19–21, 33:18–21, Doc. No. 46–6.) The fire "caus[ed] moderate thermal, soot and smoke damage to the closet area[,] smoke and soot damage to the third floor." (Phila. Fire Dep't, Investigation Profile Report, Doc. No. 46–11.)

Plaintiff testified that on the morning of the fire, she saw her husband—then 85 years old—with a lighter (which she more frequently described as a lit torch). (Pl.'s Dep. 16:21–17:4; Pl.'s Am. Opp'n to Def.'s Mot. Summ. J. 4, Doc. No. 60.) After Mr. Robinson went upstairs and Plaintiff smelled smoke, she went outside to call 911. (Pl.'s Dep. 25:5–14, 29:7–13.) She left the house to make the call because "[she] didn't want [her husband] to hear [her] calling 911" and "reporting somebody to come in on [him]." (Id. at 29:12–19.)

Mr. Robinson's admissions aside, the cause of the fire is undisputed. Plaintiff acknowledges that her husband set the fire. (Pl.'s Am. Opp'n to Def.'s Mot. Summ. J. 1 ("The ‘intentional act’ which Allstate purports the basis of the denial, was the result of medical issue [sic] suffered by co-insured, [Mr. Robinson.]").) Philadelphia Fire Marshal Eric Geiger determined that the fire "originate[d] on the third floor in the closet area ... when an open flame [was] applied to available combustibles." (Phila. Fire Dep't, Investigation Profile Report, Doc. No. 46–11.) Plaintiff's expert John Lightbody concluded that "[t]he ignition source for the fire is identified as open flame from a plumber's torch. The cause of the fire is intentional...." (Lightbody Investigation Report 9, Doc. No. 46–24.) Finally, Defendant's expert Arthur Czajkowski concluded that "the fire [was] caused by an open flame from a plumbers torch (Ignition Source) being applied to the clothing and other combustibles (First Item Ignited) stored in and around the third floor front bedroom closet." (Letter from Arthur Czajkowski to Allstate 5, Doc. No. 46–17) Mr. Czajkowski interviewed Plaintiff on November 3, 2015, when she told him that on the morning of the fire, she saw Mr. Robinson with a lit plumber's torch in his hand; after he went upstairs, she called 911. (Id. at 2.)

C. Mr. Robinson

Upon arresting him, the police took Mr. Robinson to the Albert Einstein Medical Center, where he underwent involuntary examination and treatment. (Phila. Police Dep't, Complaint or Incident Report, Oct. 26, 2015, Doc. No. 46–8); see also 50 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 7302. Plaintiff has provided 1,100 pages of records from Einstein relating to her husband. (Pl.'s Am. Opp'n to Def.'s Mot. Summ. J., Ex. A., Doc. No. 60.)

An examination note made on October 27, 2015 (the day after the fire) provides that Mr. Robinson was suffering from "psychosis." (Id. at 81, Doc. No. 60–5.) Mr. Robinson told the medical staff: "I want it to burn ... my house, my wife, everything ... [e]verything is demonic, me, where...