MUSCATO CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
HARTFORD INSURANCE COMPANY, ETC., ET AL., APPELLEES

Fla. 5th DCA | 1998-04-24
No. 97-615
GRIFFIN, C.J., and GOSHORN, J., concur.
710 So. 2d 176 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1998)

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Muscato Corporation appealed a summary judgment dismissing its claim that Hartford Insurance must defend and indemnify it against an employee's lawsuit alleging conversion and fraudulent inducement. The court affirmed, holding that the insurance policies excluded coverage for intentional acts, and the employee's claims were based on intentional conduct not qualifying as insured 'occurrences.'


Holding

Hartford had no duty to defend or indemnify Muscato because the insurance policies covered only bodily injury or property damage caused by an 'occurrence' (defined as an accident), and explicitly excluded coverage for injuries 'expected or intended from the standpoint of the insured.' Since Orlando's claims were based on intentional acts rather than accidents, they fell outside the scope of coverage.


Headnotes

[1] Commercial general liability policies typically do not cover claims for intentional conversion or fraudulent inducement.

[2] An "occurrence" under a commercial general liability policy is defined as an accident, excluding intentional acts.

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Key Quotes

“an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions”

Definition of 'occurrence' under the insurance policies that triggered Hartford's duty to defend or indemnify

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Facts & Procedural History

Muscato hired Joseph Orlando as vice president of marketing and terminated him after six months. Orlando sued Muscato for conversion of personal prope…

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Opinion of the Court
ANTOON, Judge.

ANTOON, Judge.

The Muscato Corporation (Muscato) appeals the trial court’s final summary judgment entered in favor of Hartford Insurance Company of the Southeast and Hartford Casualty Insurance Company (Hartford). The trial court determined that, under the terms of two commercial general liability policies purchased by Muscato, Hartford did not have a duty to defend or indemnify Muscato against third party claims of intentional conversion of personal property or fraudulent inducement. We affirm.

Muscato hired Joseph Orlando to be a vice president of marketing but terminated his employment after only six months. Following his termination, Orlando sued Muscato for damages alleging, in part, conversion of personal property and fraudulent inducement. Muscato in turn filed a third-party complaint against Hartford alleging that Hartford had a duty to defend and indemnify Muscato against Orlando’s claims.

Hartford’s policies insured Muscato against bodily injury and property damage if “[t]he ‘bodily injury' or ‘property damage’ is caused by an ‘occurrence’ ...” which was defined as “an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions.” The policies excluded coverage for bodily injury or property damage that was “expected or intended from the standpoint of the insured.” Thus, under the terms of these policies, Hartford would not be required to defend or indemnify Muscato if Orlando’s claims were based on intentional acts or intentional injuries. See State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Compupay, Inc., 654 So. 2d 944, 946-47 (Fla. 3d DCA), rev. denied, 662 So. 2d 341 (Fla.1995) (intentional acts are not “occurrences”); see also Spengler v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 568 So. 2d 1293, 1296 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990), rev. denied, 577 So. 2d 1328 (Fla.1991) (intentional injury is not covered under a negligence-based policy).

Orlando’s complaint first alleged a claim of conversion, averring that, after terminating Orlando’s employment, Muscato “converted to its own use ...” a stereo, a rug, business files, and a fish tank that Orlando kept in his office. Orlando’s second claim was that Mus-cato had fraudulently induced him to leave his employment in Massachusetts by promising him a salary, benefits, and relocation expenses without possessing any intention of fulfilling such promises. We affirm the trial court’s ruling that Hartford was not required to defend or indemnify Muscato against Orlando’s claims because the alleged intentional actions were not covered under the terms of the policies.

AFFIRMED.

GRIFFIN, C.J., and GOSHORN, J., concur.


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