State Farm Had No Duty To Defend Employer Against Employee's Sexual Battery Claim

Proskauer - California Employment Law
Contact

Shanahan v. State Farm Gen. Ins. Co., 193 Cal. App. 4th 780 (2011)

Cheryl Skigin (an attorney) sued her employer John M. Shanahan and various companies he owned for sexual battery, among other things. Shanahan settled the lawsuit for $700,000. Shanahan, who had a renter’s insurance policy with State Farm, sued State Farm for breach of contract and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing based upon State Farm’s refusal to defend Shanahan against Skigin’s lawsuit. State Farm asserted it had no duty to defend a charge of sexual battery because intentional acts are not covered by Shanahan’s policies. The trial court granted State Farm’s summary judgment motion, and the Court of Appeal affirmed. See also, Lemmer v. Charney, 2011 WL 1679858 (Cal. Ct. App. 2011) (attorney’s claim against former client for fraud associated with client’s representation that he would proceed with wrongful termination case against his former employer “to either settlement or trial” was properly dismissed).

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations. Attorney Advertising.

© Proskauer - California Employment Law

Written by:

Proskauer - California Employment Law
Contact
more
less

PUBLISH YOUR CONTENT ON JD SUPRA NOW

  • Increased visibility
  • Actionable analytics
  • Ongoing guidance

Proskauer - California Employment Law on:

Reporters on Deadline

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
Custom Email Digest
- hide
- hide