Oliveira v. Commerce Insurance Company
Oliveira v. Commerce Insurance Company
Opinion
The plaintiff, Derrick Martins Oliveira, filed suit against the insurer, The Commerce Insurance Company, to obtain coverage as a "household member" under an insurance policy held by the mother and stepfather of his long-term partner, with whom he has a child. To resolve this dispute, we must confront the question whether the phrase "related by blood," in its usual and ordinary sense, reaches two persons with no blood relationship with each other whatsoever, but who each have a blood relationship with a third person. Concluding that the Superior Court judge correctly determined that two persons without a blood relationship with each other are not "related by blood," in the common understanding of the term, we affirm the summary judgment for the insurer.
*1208 1. Background . Since 2012, the plaintiff has lived with his long-term partner in a single-family unit with her mother and stepfather. The plaintiff is not married to his partner, but they have a minor son together.
On July 18, 2014, the plaintiff was injured in a serious single-automobile accident while a passenger in a vehicle owned and operated by a third party. The plaintiff sustained fractures to his spine and ribs, tore ligaments in his knee, and suffered substantial lacerations and scarring on his scalp. He was hospitalized for four days, required long-term disability, and incurred medical bills in excess of $40,000. The driver was insured under her own policy, and the plaintiff accepted a settlement with the driver and the driver's insurer to the full extent of that policy, $100,000. 2
The insurance company here provided coverage for the two vehicles used by the residents of the plaintiff's home under a policy issued to his partner's mother and stepfather (policyholders). The policy provided, inter alia, $250,000 of coverage per person in underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage for "damages for bodily injury to people injured or killed as a result of certain accidents caused by someone who does not have enough insurance." The policy for UIM coverage included coverage for:
"1. You, while occupying your auto , while occupying an auto you do not own, or if injured as a pedestrian .
"2. Any household member , while occupying your auto , while occupying an auto not owned by you, or if injured as a pedestrian . If there are two or more policies which provide coverage at the same limits, we will only pay our proportionate share. We will not pay damages to or for any household member who has a Massachusetts auto policy of his or her own or who is covered by a Massachusetts auto policy of another household member providing underinsured auto insurance with higher limits."
The policy also included a definition for "household member":
"9. Household Member - means anyone living in your household who is related to you by blood, marriage or adoption. This includes wards, step-children or foster children."
The plaintiff claimed coverage under the policy as a "household member" of the policyholders. 3 The insurer denied the claim, contending that the plaintiff was not eligible for coverage because he did not "meet the definition of a 'household member' " under the policy. In response, the plaintiff filed a complaint in Superior Court, alleging breach of contract and seeking a judgment declaring that the plaintiff was a "household member" under the policy and, as such, was eligible for coverage. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the plaintiff argued that he was related by blood to the policyholders through his biological son and therefore entitled to coverage as a "household member." 4 After a hearing, a judge denied the plaintiff's motion and granted the insurer's motion. The judge found that the plaintiff *1209 was not related by blood to either policyholder, and thus he was not a "household member" and was not entitled to UIM coverage under the policy. This appeal followed.
2.
Discussion
. "We review a grant of summary judgment de novo."
Deutsche Bank Nat'l Trust Co
. v.
Fitchburg Capital, LLC
,
Our task is to "construe the words of the policy in their usual and ordinary sense."
Mahoney
v.
American Auto. Ins. Co
.,
In its usual and ordinary sense, the phrase "related by blood" denotes a genetic relationship between the two persons asserted to be related. See Black's Law Dictionary 1402 (9th ed. 2009) (defining "blood relative" as "[o]ne who shares an ancestor with another"). See also
Allstate Ins
. v.
Shelton
,
Here, there is no genetic relationship between the plaintiff and the policyholders; rather the plaintiff relies on the fact that both the plaintiff and one of the policyholders have a genetic relationship with the plaintiff's child. The policy, however,
*1210
covers (for UIM purposes) a person "related to you [the policyholder] by blood, marriage or adoption," not someone "who is related by blood to someone you are related to by blood." Indeed, in the only case we have found to address this precise issue,
Holi
v.
AIG Haw. Ins. Co
.,
Here, the plaintiff requests an expansive definition of "related by blood." The policy language, however, by specifically adding "wards, step-children or foster children" to the persons included in "household member," makes evident that the meaning of "related ... by blood, marriage or adoption" is not suited to further expansion beyond its usual and ordinary meaning. Otherwise, there would be no need to add those persons to the definition of "household member." See
Balles
v.
Babcock Power Inc
.,
We are, nonetheless, given some pause by
Turner
v.
Lewis
,
The reasoning of Turner, however, is not applicable here. The court in
Turner
was not applying the usual and ordinary meaning of the term "related by blood," but rather interpreting legislative language in light of the Legislature's intent "to broaden the definition of persons eligible to seek protection from abuse and domestic violence beyond the 'family' and to also include other persons having some 'family-like' connection."
Turner
,
Nor is
Turner
an outlier in this regard. In
Silva
v.
Carmel
,
By comparison to the Supreme Judicial Court's careful interpretations in Turner and Silva , the plaintiff's construction of "related by blood" is breathtaking in its breadth and yet remarkably disconnected to the asserted policy goal of covering a broad range of family relationships. Under the plaintiff's theory, any two persons with a common blood relative are themselves related by blood. Thus, a person with a niece is a blood relative of his or her brother-in-law's parents (and grandparents and, for that matter, any genetic relatives). Indeed, a couple with a biological child would be surprised to find themselves to be blood relatives.
Nonetheless, the plaintiff's construction is surprisingly narrow. Had the plaintiff and his partner been a same-sex couple using an unrelated egg donor, the plaintiff would not be covered. Were the plaintiff and his partner raising a child adopted by his partner, the policyholder's daughter, the plaintiff would not be covered. Had the plaintiff been injured before the birth of the child, the plaintiff would not be covered. The plaintiff's construction places value on one particular flavor of family relationship, to the exclusion of many others.
Nor is it an answer to suggest (which the plaintiff does not) that the meaning of "related by blood" might someday be extended by judicial fiat to persons who lack even a biological relationship with a common third person. In the G. L. c. 209A context, every plaintiff promptly sees a judge, who is well qualified to make a case-by-case determination. Even where the plaintiff lacks the necessary relationship under G. L. c. 209A, § 1, there is value to having the plaintiff come to the court house and become aware of the resources available to a victim of abuse. By contrast, individuals need to know whether they are covered by another individual's policy to determine whether they should obtain their own insurance, and insurance companies need to know who is covered to determine the proper premium and how to process claims. In the insurance context, waiting until an accident and subsequent case-by-case determination of coverage by a judge is not an adequate solution.
Here, we are not interpreting legislative language in an attempt to best effectuate the intent of the Legislature. Instead, we are bound to apply the usual and ordinary meaning of the words "related by blood." Those words denote a genetic relationship, and it is undisputed that the plaintiff has none with either of the policyholders. Because the Superior Court judge correctly concluded, based on the undisputed facts, *1212 that the plaintiff was not "related by blood" to the policyholders in the usual and ordinary sense of those words, the judge properly granted summary judgment to the insurer.
Judgment affirmed .
In
Turner
v.
Lewis
,
In Massachusetts, automobile insurance is both a statutory and policy driven creature. Every edition of the standard Massachusetts automobile insurance policy must comply with all applicable statutory provisions and be in a form approved by the Commissioner of Insurance (Commissioner).
2
See G. L. c. 175, §§ 2B, 113A. At the end of the day, however, it is the underlying statutory scheme that controls, for while the Commissioner decides what the terms of a standard policy will be, and his or her interpretation of the relevant statutes is entitled to deference, that interpretation cannot stand if it is in conflict with the relevant statutes. See
Colby
v.
Metropolitan Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co
.,
At the time of the accident, Oliveira resided as part of a single-family unit with his fiancée, their biological son (child), and the fiancée's biological mother (grandmother) and stepfather (step-grandfather). There were two motor vehicles in the household, both insured under the policy issued by The Commerce Insurance Company (Commerce) to the grandmother and step-grandfather. Neither of the vehicles was involved in the accident, but the policy also included, in pertinent part, $250,000 per person in underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage. According to the policy, UIM coverage "will pay damages for bodily injury to people injured or killed as a *1213 result of certain accidents caused by someone who does not have enough insurance." The "people" who qualify for UIM coverage are identified in the policy and include the following:
"1. You, while occupying your auto, while occupying an auto you do not own, or if injured as a pedestrian.
"2. Any household member, while occupying your auto, while occupying an auto not owned by you, or if injured as a pedestrian. If there are two or more policies which provide coverage at the same limits, we will only pay our proportionate share. We will not pay damages to or for any household member who has a Massachusetts auto policy of his or her own or who is covered by a Massachusetts auto policy of another household member providing underinsured auto insurance with higher limits." (Emphasis omitted.)
The terms "you" and "your" are defined in the policy as the person(s) to whom the policy is issued, as identified on the coverage selections page. In this case, "you" and "your" referred to the grandmother and step-grandfather. The term "household member," meanwhile, is defined as "anyone living in your household who is related to you by blood, marriage or adoption. This includes wards, step-children or foster children."
Under G. L. c. 175, § 113L (2), insurers in Massachusetts are required to make UIM coverage available for purchase at the option of the policyholder. 3 The grandmother and step-grandfather exercised that option when they purchased the policy from Commerce. In terms of who is eligible for UIM coverage, the statute, unlike the policy, does not use the phrase "household member." Instead, the statute provides, in pertinent part, that someone in Oliveira's position is eligible for UIM coverage "from the policy of a resident relative " (emphasis supplied). G. L. c. 175, § 113L (5). 4 The statute does not define the phrase "resident relative." Nor does it define the word "relative," which is the portion of "resident relative" that is relevant here. 5
"When a statute does not define its words we give them their
usual and accepted meanings, as long as these meanings are consistent with the statutory purpose
.... We derive the words' usual and accepted meanings from sources presumably known to the statute's enactors, such as their use in other legal contexts and dictionary definitions." (Emphasis supplied.)
Modica
v.
Sheriff of Suffolk County
,
*1214
2005) (defining "relative" as "a person connected with another by blood or affinity"). As previously noted, the policy defines the phrase "household member" as anyone living in the same household as a policyholder who is related to the policyholder by, among other things, blood or marriage. As an initial matter, therefore, the policy approved by the Commissioner appears consistent with the statute, at least to the extent relevant to the issue before us. See
Kanamaru
v.
Holyoke Mut. Ins. Co
.,
Which brings us to Turner, the only case in Massachusetts to consider, under any circumstances, the scope of the phrase "related by blood."
6
There, a grandmother, who had custody of her biological son's ten year old biological child, sought a civil abuse prevention order against the child's biological mother.
Turner
,
To reach that seemingly incongruous conclusion, the majority suggests that different rules apply to the interpretation of the language of the insurance policy at issue here than applied when it came to the same language in the statute at issue in Turner . Specifically, the majority suggests that here the court is necessarily restricted to construing the usual and ordinary sense of the phrase "related by blood," while in Turner , the Supreme Judicial Court construed that same phrase in light of the Legislature's intent in enacting the domestic abuse prevention statute -- not in its usual and ordinary sense. With all due respect, however, the majority's suggestion is faulty on more than one level.
First, the court in
Turner
did not fail to consider the usual and ordinary sense of the phrase "related by blood." The court detailed the interpretive rules it was applying at the outset of its analysis: "When statutory language is clear and unambiguous, the statute must be given its plain meaning. When the language is less clear, we must interpret the statute according to the intent of the Legislature ascertained from all its words
construed by the ordinary and approved usage of the language
, considered in connection with the cause of
*1215
its enactment, the mischief or imperfection to be remedied and the main object to be accomplished, to the end that the purpose of its framers may be effectuated" (emphasis supplied).
7
Turner
,
Moreover, it is simply wrong to suggest, as the majority effectively does, that, unlike in
Turner
, the court is required to view the usual and ordinary sense of the phrase "related by blood" in a vacuum, without considering the underlying statute and its purpose. "We must construe the words of the policy according to the fair meaning of the language used,
as applied to the subject matter, as long as the statutory language or legislative policy of G. L. c. 175, § 113L, is not contravened
. This is true whether the language of [the] policy is considered ambiguous or explicit." (Emphasis supplied.)
Manning
v.
Fireman's Fund Am. Ins. Cos
.,
The court in
Turner
,
The court in
Turner
,
Disregarding Vaiarella 's admonition of flexibility in defining "household member," as well as Turner's broad definition of "related by blood," the majority opts instead for inflexibility and conventionality.
*1217 In doing so, the majority spends a fair amount of time conjuring up what it terms "breathtakingly broad" or "surprisingly narrow" coverage scenarios that might follow if Oliveira is considered to be related by blood to his child's maternal grandmother. Engaging in such reductio ad absurdum can prove to be a risky venture. As suggested in Vaiarella , consideration of other coverage scenarios is best left for determination on a case-by-case basis, with more fully formed facts and records. With that said, I do not find the prospect of Oliveira qualifying for UIM coverage because he is considered to be related by blood to his child's maternal grandmother, with whom he resides, to be more breathtakingly broad than, for example, a person qualifying for UIM coverage under the policy issued to his or her third cousin, with whom he or she happens to reside. As the majority would have it, the phrase "related by blood" is more than flexible enough to allow for the latter, but not the former.
This is not to say that -- divorced from advancing a legislative policy -- there is not some appeal to the majority's holding. Understood in a vacuum, the phrase "related by blood" does seem to imply that two people must share a common bloodline, which is only possible if they are both descended from a common ancestor.
11
Indeed, the phrase "blood relative" has been defined just so. See Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blood 20relative [https://perma.cc/5MUR-CY6U] ("blood relative" is "someone who has the same parents or ancestors as another person"); Black's Law Dictionary 1402 (9th ed. 2009) ("blood relative" is "[o]ne who shares an ancestor with another"). Of course, there is also a certain commonsense appeal to the notion that the biological father of a child is related, or, to use the language of the statute at issue here, a "relative" of, the maternal biological grandmother of the child, even if the father is not married to the biological mother of the child. Or, to put it in the same terms as the majority, I think that an objectively reasonable person in Oliveira's position "would be surprised to find" himself to not be related to his child's maternal grandmother, just because he is not married to the child's mother. The result seems even more surprising given that Oliveira resided in the same household and formed what can only be considered a "family," with, among others, the child, the child's mother, and the child's maternal grandmother. In any event, this certainly militates in favor of coverage. See
Golchin
v.
Liberty Mut. Ins. Co
.,
One final point merits discussion. The majority's holding extends beyond Oliveira and victims similarly situated. On the record before the court, it can readily be inferred that the severe injuries Oliveira suffered in the accident have had a significant derivative impact, financially or otherwise, on his family, and, thus, his child, the policyholder's grandson, thus giving rise to a claim for loss of parental society.
12
According
*1218
to the policy, UIM coverage is only available for "[a]nyone else for damages he or she is entitled to recover because of injury to a person covered under this Part." In other words, UIM coverage would only be available to the child if, once again, Oliveira himself qualifies as a "household member." Over thirty years ago, the Supreme Judicial Court declared, "[o]urs is an era in which logic and compassion have impelled the law toward unburdening children from the stigma and the disadvantages heretofore attendant upon the status of illegitimacy."
Powers
v.
Wilkinson
,
In this case, Oliveira and his child are "related by blood." Likewise, the maternal grandmother, through her daughter, Oliveira's fiancée, is "related by blood" to the child. Thus, the child is "related by blood" to both the maternal grandmother and Oliveira. And, as was the case in Turner , this makes Oliveira and the grandmother "related by blood" through that child. I consider this to be the fair meaning of the language used in the policy, as applied to the subject matter, consistent with the statutory language and legislative policy of G. L. c. 175, § 113L. As such, I would reverse the judgment, allow Oliveira's motion for summary judgment, deny Commerce's motion for summary judgment, and declare that Oliveira qualifies as a "household member" under the policy issued by Commerce to the grandmother and step-grandfather.
There seems to be no dispute, at least for summary judgment purposes, that this was insufficient to compensate the plaintiff for the accident.
The plaintiff was listed with his partner and her stepfather on the coverage selections page of the policy as operators of the two vehicles kept at the residence. Being listed as an operator, however, does not qualify the plaintiff for UIM coverage under the policy. See
Kanamaru
v.
Holyoke Mut. Ins. Co
.,
The plaintiff conceded he was not related by marriage or adoption to the policyholders.
The plaintiff makes no claim that the language chosen by the Commissioner of Insurance (Commissioner) fails to accord with G. L. c. 175, § 113L. In any event, "the Commissioner of Insurance ... decides what the terms of a standard policy will be, and the commissioner's interpretation of the relevant statutes, although not controlling, is entitled to deference."
Colby
v.
Metropolitan Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co
.,
The plaintiff's complaint in
Holi
requested a judgment declaring that that he was "related by blood" to the policyholders.
Holi
,
According to Oliveira's sworn answer to an interrogatory, which is not disputed anywhere in the record before us, he was the victim of an act of an intoxicated driver. The driver of the vehicle in which he was a passenger was "highly intoxicated" and crashed the vehicle into a diesel fuel pump at a fire station in Charlestown. At least in this case, therefore, a broad reading of the phrase "related by blood" also would be consistent with the legislative policy of protecting and compensating victims of intoxicated drivers; a policy that, most notably, has prompted the Supreme Judicial Court to take a broad view of the common law of negligence in "dram shop liability" cases. See
McGuiggan
v.
New England Tel. & Tel. Co
.,
The policy at issue in this case is the 2008 edition. Thus, the broad definition of "related by blood" enunciated in
Turner
,
UIM coverage was made optional by St. 1988, c. 273, § 46. See
Smart
v.
Safety Ins. Co
.,
General Laws c. 175, § 113L (5), also provides (1) that the person seeking coverage cannot be a "named insured" on another policy providing UIM coverage, (2) that the person may only recover from the policy of a resident relative providing the highest limits of UIM coverage, and (3) if there are two or more such policies providing the same limits of UIM coverage, a pro rata contribution will be made from each. None of these provisions are in dispute in this case.
Commerce originally argued that Oliveira did not reside or live in the same household as the grandmother, but conceded that fact for purposes of summary judgment.
The majority suggests that it unearthed one case that addressed the "precise" issue now before the court,
Holi
v.
AIG Haw. Ins. Co
.,
At the very least, the holding in
Turner
would suggest that the phrase "related by blood" is ambiguous. See
James B. Nutter & Co
. v.
Estate of Murphy
,
While
Gleed
involved a policy issued at the time that UIM coverage was compulsory, see note 3,
supra
, the same broad objective is still evident now that the coverage is optional. In fact, the court noted in
Gleed
,
As G. L. c. 175, § 113L(5), is a civil, not a criminal, statute, the rule of lenity does not apply and the policy's phrase "related by blood" and statutory word "relative" do not have to be construed narrowly. See
Commonwealth
v.
Dayton
,
This court previously noted in
Kanamaru
,
"Ancestor" is defined as "one from whom a person is descended and who is usu[ally] more remote in the line of descent than a grandparent." Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 46 (11th ed. 2005). See Black's Law Dictionary 100 (9th ed. 2009) ("common ancestor" means a "person to whom the ancestry of two or more persons is traced").
There is no mention in the record of whether a claim for loss of society has yet been pursued on the child's behalf against the intoxicated driver or against the UIM coverage under the policy at issue.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Derrick Martins OLIVEIRA v. the COMMERCE INSURANCE COMPANY.
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published