S.C. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Longphre

Decision Date07 December 2022
Docket Number2022-UP-443
PartiesSouth Carolina Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company, Respondent, v. Richard K. Longphre and Travis E. Simpson, Defendants, Of Whom Richard K. Longphre is Appellant. Appellate Case No. 2020-001141
CourtSouth Carolina Court of Appeals

THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE. IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 268(d)(2), SCACR.

Submitted October 1, 2022

Appeal From Lexington County Walton J. McLeod, IV, Circuit Court Judge,

Neal Douglas Truslow, of Truslow & Truslow, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Ross Buchanan Plyler, of Roe Cassidy Coates & Price, PA, of Greenville, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:

Richard K. Longphre appeals the circuit court's order granting summary judgment in favor of South Carolina Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company (Farm Bureau). On appeal, Longphre argues the circuit court erred in finding Farm Bureau did not provide liability coverage for the injuries he sustained due to the alleged actions of Farm Bureau's insured, Travis Simpson. We affirm. We hold the circuit court did not err in granting summary judgment because Simpson's actions fell within the policy's intentional acts exclusion. See State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Windham, 432 S.C. 134 143, 850 S.E.2d 633, 638 (Ct. App. 2020) ("When reviewing the grant of a summary judgment motion, this court applies the same standard that governs the circuit court under Rule 56(c), SCRCP; summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law."); id. ("In determining whether a genuine issue of fact exists, the evidence and all reasonable inferences drawn from it must be viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party."); S.C. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Dawsey, 371 S.C. 353, 356, 638 S.E.2d 103, 104 (Ct. App. 2006) ("Insurance policies are subject to the general rules of contract construction."); id. ("The court must give policy language its plain, ordinary, and popular meaning."); id. ("Although exclusions in a policy are construed against the insurer, insurers have the right to limit their liability and to impose conditions on their obligations provided they are not in contravention of public policy or a statutory prohibition."); id. at 356, 638 S.E.2d at 105 ("The court cannot torture the meaning of policy language to extend coverage not intended by the parties."). Simpson's Farm Bureau policy excluded from personal liability coverage bodily injury "resulting from intentional acts or directions of [the policyholder] or any insured" and further provided "[t]he expected or unexpected results o[f] these acts or directions are not covered." Longphre asserted Farm Bureau was required to provide coverage for an injury he allegedly sustained following an altercation with Simpson. Simpson testified that he tackled Longphre to the ground, and as the men stood up, Simpson pushed Longphre causing him to fall. Simpson explained the push was "to get up and to get [Longphre] away from [him]...

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