State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. v. Straw, Unpublished Decision (2-2-2000)
State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. v. Straw, Unpublished Decision (2-2-2000)
Opinion of the Court
State Farm moved for summary judgment, contending that it had no duty to defend or indemnify Charles or Katheryn with respect to the claims of KK, SJK, and RJK. State Farm argued that the policy at issue contains two exclusions, the business pursuits exclusion and the child care services exclusion, which preclude recovery for the underlying claims.2 The trial court denied the motion on May 22, 1997. State Farm filed a motion for reconsideration on January 26, 1998.3 The court granted State Farm's motion for reconsideration, and on March 5, 1998, vacated its May 22, 1997 order, and, finding that the child care exclusion precludes coverage for the underlying claims, granted summary judgment in favor of State Farm.
KK, SJK, and RJK timely appeal, asserting one assignment of error.4
II. ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR
"The Trial Court Erred In Granting Summary Judgment In Favor Of The Plaintiff, State Farm Fire Casualty Company."
Appellants argue that the trial court's decision to grant appellee's motion for reconsideration, vacate its prior order, and grant summary judgment in favor of State Farm was improper. This Court disagrees.
In reviewing a trial court's entry of summary judgment, an appellate court applies the same standard used by the trial court.Perkins v. Lavin (1994),
State Farm argued that the underlying claims of KK and her parents, SJK and RJK, fall within the policy's business pursuits and child care service exclusions and, therefore, State Farm has no duty to defend or indemnify any of the insureds with respect to those claims. On appeal, appellants do not contest the trial court's finding "that the child care exclusion in the insurance policy at issue expressly excludes coverage for claims brought by `any person who is in the care of any insured because of child care services provided by or at the direction of any insured.'" Rather, appellants state that the only exclusion at issue in this appeal is the business pursuit exclusion. In the interest of justice however, this Court will address both provisions.
SECTION II — EXCLUSIONS
Coverage L [personal liability] and Coverage M [medical payments to others] do not apply to:
* * *
i. any claim made or suit brought against any insured by:
any person who is in the care of any insured because of child care services provided by or at the direction of:
any insured;
* * *
any person who makes a claim because of bodily injury to any person who is in the care of any insured because of child care services provided by or at the direction of:
any insured;
* * *
This exclusion does not apply to the occasional child care services provided by any insured, or to the part-time child care services provided by any insured who is under 19 years of age * * *.
State Farm asserts that the policy excludes coverage for the injury to KK because the injury occurred while Katheryn was providing childcare services for KK. This Court agrees.
The policy expressly excludes coverage for any claim brought by "any person who is in the care of any insured because of child care services provided by or at the direction of any insured." It is undisputed that Katheryn is an "insured" under the policy, and that Katheryn was providing child care services for KK. Katheryn testified in her deposition that she had operated a babysitting service in Charles' home since October 1986, and that she had begun babysitting for KK in 1989. Babysitting falls within the definition of child care services. The claims brought by KK, SJK, and RJK are for injury to KK that occurred while Katheryn was babysitting KK. Therefore, the claims by KK, SJK and RJK fall within the policy's childcare exclusion.
Furthermore, the two exceptions to the exclusion do not apply. One exception is for injuries that arise from "the part-time child care services provided by any insured who is under 19 years of age." At the time of the incident in 1993, Katheryn was well over the age of nineteen; she had graduated high school in 1978. The other exception is for injury that occurs during "the occasional child care services provided by any insured." Katheryn testified that the babysitting service was her full-time business and that it was her only source of income since 1989.
Accordingly, the trial court did not err in finding that the child care exclusion in the policy excludes coverage for the claims brought by KK, SJK, and RJK.
SECTION II — EXCLUSIONS
Coverage L [personal liability] and Coverage M [medical payments to others] do not apply to:
* * *
bodily injury or property damage arising out of business pursuits of any insured * * *. This exclusion does not apply:
to activities which are ordinarily incident to non-business pursuits;
with respect to Coverage L [personal liability] to the occasional or part-time business pursuits of an insured who is under 19 years of age;
Appellants concede that Katheryn's child care service falls within the policy's business pursuits exclusion. They contend, however, that State Farm is contractually obligated to indemnify and defend its insureds because the injury falls within the exception to the exclusion because the injury arose from "activities which are ordinarily incident to non-business pursuits."
Appellants argue that this Court should follow the test put forth in Watkins v. Brown (1994),
Appellants have misinterpreted Watkins. The Watkins court did not set forth a test to determine whether the exception to the exclusion applies. The case involved a situation in which the injury occurred while the insured was changing a child's diaper.Id. Reversing a judgment against the insurer, the court concluded that the act of changing the child's diaper, and the fact that the injury occurred at that time, precluded reliance on the exception. Id. The court explained that, because the child was being babysat for compensation, and because the child had to be diapered, the diapering was an activity arising out of the babysitting business, rather than being "usual to non-business pursuits." Id.
Appellants are incorrect in focusing their argument around Steven's actions. A similar argument was made by appellants inTitterington v. Portman (Mar. 29, 1996), Geauga App. No 95-G-1933, unreported. In that case, the insureds were running a small babysitting business out of their home. A child whom the insureds were hired to watch was injured when a dog owned by the insureds bit the child. Attempting to hold the insureds' homeowners insurance liable, the appellants argued that the act of the dog biting the child was an act not normally considered business-related and, therefore, fell within the exception to the business activity exclusion. Id. Adopting Watkins, the Eleventh District rejected appellants' argument:
Appellants' argument that the dog attack was not related to the business of babysitting and that the exception to the exclusion should apply is without merit. The trial court held that it was clear that the failure to provide a safe location for the children to stay did not remove this incident from the business activity exclusion, as keeping children in a safe place is a part of the business of babysitting. This reasoning is persuasive, as the business of babysitting includes providing a secure location to keep the children, just as it included the act of diapering infants in the Watkins case.
This Court adopts the reasoning in Titterington and concludes that the exception to the business exclusion, for "activities which are usual to non-business pursuits," does not apply. Accordingly, appellants' sole assignment of error is overruled. Summary judgment was appropriately entered in favor of State Farm. The judgment of the Medina County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
The Court finds that there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
We order that a special mandate issue out of this Court, directing the Court of Common Pleas, County of Medina, to carry this judgment into execution. A certified copy of this journal entry shall constitute the mandate, pursuant to App.R. 27.
Immediately upon the filing hereof, this document shall constitute the journal entry of judgment, and it shall be file stamped by the Clerk of the Court of Appeals at which time the period for review shall begin to run. App.R. 22(E).
Costs taxed to Appellants.
Exceptions.
DONNA J. CARR, FOR THE COURT
BAIRD, P.J., BATCHELDER, J., CONCUR.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.