Boulter v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co.

321 F.Supp.3d 1199

Donald BOULTER, Plaintiff,

v.The HARTFORD FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, and John Does I-V, Defendants.

CV 17-68-BLG-SPW

United States District Court, D. Montana, Billings Division.

Signed July 11, 2018

Daniel Patrick Buckley, Buckley Law Office, Timothy P. Hammar, Angel Coil Bartlett, Bozeman, MT, for Plaintiff.

Christopher C. Voigt, Crowley Fleck PLLP, Billings, MT, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

SUSAN P. WATTERS, United States District Judge

Before the Court are cross motions for summary judgment. (Docs. 14 and 17). This case presents the issue of whether walking in a parking lot with the purpose of getting back in one's car, after briefly exiting one's car to order a to-go breakfast during a long work-related road trip, is reasonably connected to the operation of one's car. For the following reasons, the Court holds that it is.

I. Undisputed Facts

The following facts are taken from the parties' joint statement of stipulated facts and Boulter's statement of undisputed facts, which The Hartford Fire Insurance Company did not dispute. D. Mont. L.R. 56.1(c-d).

Donald Boulter's workday began at 6:00 AM on March 24, 2014. He and a co-worker had to drive a work van 140 miles from Bozeman to Billings to drop off a load of material before picking up another load and delivering it to Buffalo, Wyoming. (Doc. 19, ¶¶ 5-6). After they dropped off the first load in Billings, Boulter and his co-worker decided to grab a McDonald's to-go breakfast before they continued on to Buffalo. (Doc. 19, ¶ 6).

Boulter parked his work van in the McDonald's parking lot, exited the vehicle, and went inside the McDonald's to order his breakfast to-go. (Doc. 19, ¶ 6). After receiving his order, Boulter exited the McDonald's and began walking back towards his work van. (Doc. 16, ¶ 7; Doc. 19, ¶ 7). While walking towards his work van, an unknown motorist drove past Boulter in a rushed manner. (Doc. 16, ¶ 7; Doc. 19, ¶ 8). Boulter stepped backwards out of the way, slipped, and fell to the ground, suffering a serious head injury. (Doc. 16, ¶ 7; Doc. 19, ¶ 8). Boulter was about 60 feet away from his work van when he fell. (Doc. 16, ¶ 8; Doc. 19, ¶ 9). The unknown motorist has never been identified. (Doc. 19, ¶ 10).

Boulter's employer insured Boulter's work van under a policy issued by The Hartford Fire Insurance Company. (Doc. 16, ¶¶ 2-6). The policy provided uninsured motorist coverage to "insureds." (Doc. 16, ¶ 3). Under the policy, an "insured" is anyone "occupying" a covered auto. (Doc. 16, ¶ 3). "Occupying" means "in, upon, getting in, on, out or off." (Doc. 16, ¶ 3). An "uninsured motor vehicle" means "a hit-and-run vehicle and neither the driver nor owner can be identified. The vehicle must hit an ‘insured,’ a covered ‘auto’ or a vehicle an ‘insured’ is ‘occupying.’ " (Doc. 16, ¶ 3).

Later that evening after he fell, Boulter was life-flighted from the emergency room in Bozeman to St. Vincent's hospital in Billings for specialty care of a subdural hemorrhage, craniotomy, and rehabilitation. (Doc. 19, ¶ 11). Boulter made a claim for uninsured motorist coverage under the policy. (Doc. 19, ¶ 12). Hartford Fire agreed the work van was a covered auto, Boulter suffered bodily injury, and the unknown motorist was an uninsured motor vehicle, but denied Boulter coverage on the position that he was not an "insured" because he was not "occupying" the work van when he was injured. (Doc. 16-2 at 3).

Boulter sought a declaratory judgment in state district court that he was an "insured" under the policy. (Doc. 3). Hartford Fire removed the case to federal court. (Doc. 1). The parties filed simultaneous motions for summary judgment on two issues. First, whether Boulter is an "insured" under the policy. Second, whether the unknown motorist is an "uninsured motor vehicle" under the policy. The parties agree Montana law governs the case.

II. Summary judgment standard

"The court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). A party seeking summary judgment always bears the initial responsibility of informing the court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett , 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

Material facts are those which may affect the outcome of the case. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. , 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A dispute as to a material fact is genuine if there is sufficient evidence for a reasonable fact-finder to return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Anderson , 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. If the moving party meets its initial responsibility, the burden then shifts to the opposing party to establish that a genuine issue of fact exists. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp. , 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).

III. Discussion

A. Boulter is an "insured" because he was walking back to his work van after briefly exiting the vehicle to order a to-go breakfast during a work-related road trip

Hartford Fire argues Boulter is not an "insured" because he was not "occupying" the work van when he was injured. Boulter responds he was "occupying" the work van under Montana Supreme Court precedent. The Court agrees with Boulter.

The Montana Supreme Court has eschewed the traditional contract law analysis in cases involving "occupying" clauses. Normally, courts begin by interpreting the terms of the insurance contract according to their common sense meaning, viewed from the perspective of a reasonable insurance consumer. Westchester Surplus Lines Ins. Co. v. Keller Transport, Inc. , 382 Mont. 72, 365 P.3d 465, 470 (2016). If the terms are clear and explicit, courts enforce them as written. Wendell v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. , 293 Mont. 140, 974 P.2d 623, 628 (1999). If the terms are ambiguous, courts construe them against the insurer and in favor of extending coverage. Westchester , 365 P.3d at 470.

In its line of cases interpreting "occupying" clauses, however, the Montana Supreme Court used the reasonable connection test instead of the specific policy language to determine whether a person was "occupying" the vehicle. In those cases, "occupying" was defined as "while in or upon, entering or alighting from," "in or upon or entering into or alighting from," and, exactly as it is here, "in, upon, getting in, on, out or off." Nelson v. Iowa Mut. Ins. Co. , 163 Mont. 82, 515 P.2d 362, 363 (1973) ; Sayers v. Safeco Ins. Co. of America , 192 Mont. 336, 628 P.2d 659, 661 (1981) ; Estate of Richerson ex rel. Richerson v. Cincinnati Ins. Co. , 362 Mont. 324, 264 P.3d 1087, 1088 (2011).

Hartford Fire argues the reasonable connection test is used only if the policy terms are ambiguous as applied to the facts before the Court. While that argument has some appeal, the Montana Supreme Court's "occupying" clause cases show otherwise.

First, in all three cases, the Montana Supreme Court applied the reasonable connection test in lieu of an ambiguity analysis. The word ambiguity does not appear in either Richerson or Sayers at all.

Second, all three opinions imply the reasonable connection test is appropriate because "occupying" clauses are facially ambiguous. In Richerson , the Montana Supreme Court rejected the plaintiff's argument to apply the plain meaning of the terms and stated "[t]he reasonable connection test we have employed permits a broad review of the facts, avoiding a microscopic focus on whether the claimant was physically ‘on’ the vehicle at the moment of impact ...." 264 P.3d at 1089-1090. In Sayers , the Montana Supreme Court rejected the defendant's argument to apply the plain meaning of the terms and stated that, in Montana, the issue presented by occupying clauses is whether the claimant can satisfy the reasonable connection test. 628 P.2d at 661. In Nelson , the Montana Supreme Court reviewed precedent from other courts and concluded "[C]ourts do not give a literal interpretation of [occupying clauses] but do include, within the meaning of the language, acts which are in some reasonable manner connected with the use of the automobile, but not strictly in, upon, entering or alighting from it." 515 P.2d at 363.

Third, in Nelson , the only case containing the word ambiguous, the Montana Supreme Court stated the policy was ambiguous after it determined the claimant's activities were reasonably connected to the insured auto. 515 P.2d at 363-364. In other words, in Nelson , it appears the reasonable connection test was used to determine whether an ambiguity existed and coverage should therefore be extended.

In sum, it's unclear whether the Montana Supreme Court uses the reasonable connection test because all occupying clauses are facially ambiguous or instead because the reasonable connection test is a more appropriate method of determining ambiguity in occupying clause cases. Regardless, the result is the same. Under Montana Supreme Court precedent, the Court applies the reasonable connection test to determine coverage under the policy's "occupying" clause.

The reasonable connection test asks whether the claimant's activities at the time of the accident were so reasonably connected to the insured auto that the claimant could be said to be an occupant within the policy's meaning. Richerson , 264 P.3d at 1089. The reasonable connection test provides a person with a reasonable length of time, after getting out, for the completion of acts which can be reasonably expected from those in similar situations. Nelson , 515 P.2d at 363-364.

In Nelson , a woman's car slipped off the road in the middle of the night during a blizzard with a temperature of eight below. 515 P.2d at 362-363. The woman...