LYNN, J.
Defendant Arch Specialty Insurance Company (Arch) appeals multiple orders of the Superior Court (
In light of the arguments raised, it is important to state the facts and procedure in some detail. The pertinent facts of this case arise from the conduct of David Kwiatkowski, a cardiac catheter laboratory technician who was infected with the Hepatitis C virus. While working at Exeter, Kwiatkowski diverted opioid drugs to his own use and, after injecting himself with such drugs, returned the contaminated needles to the hospital's supply, where they were used in the treatment of numerous patients, some of whom contracted Hepatitis C. Exeter is a member of AHSA, a company that accredits and grades people in the healthcare industry. Exeter and AHSA contracted with Triage, a staffing company that places medical personnel in medical facilities across the country. Pursuant to these contracts, Triage placed Kwiatkowski at Exeter.
In the wake of Kwiatkowski's actions, the Exeter Patients sued Triage, Exeter, and AHSA. Some of those suits have settled, while others have not. Triage, Exeter, and AHSA each carry insurance through a different insurance company: Arch primarily insures Triage; Hanover Insurance Company primarily insures Exeter; and Massachusetts Bay Insurance Company (MBIC) primarily insures AHSA. This appeal chiefly concerns whether and to what extent the policies that Arch issued to Triage provide coverage to Triage, as a named insured, and to Exeter and AHSA, as additional insureds.
In 2008, Triage and AHSA entered into a staffing agreement. Triage agreed to
To that end, Triage purchased two relevant policies from Arch: one policy providing coverage from January 1, 2011, to January 1, 2012, and a second policy providing coverage from January 1, 2012, to January 1, 2013. Except for the coverage periods, the policies are identical. Each policy includes three different coverage forms: professional liability; general liability; and umbrella liability, which covers both professional and general liability.
Pursuant to the AHSA staffing agreement, Triage placed Kwiatkowski at Exeter Hospital on April 1, 2011. On or about October 16, 2011, Exeter hired Kwiatkowski, at which point he ceased to be a Triage employee. Kwiatkowski continued to work for Exeter until the hospital placed him on administrative leave on May 21, 2012, and subsequently terminated him on June 29, 2012.
During his time at Exeter, Kwiatkowski worked in the cardiac catheterization lab, where patients undergo invasive procedures. As part of the procedures, patients are often administered two drugs: fentanyl and versed. In preparation for a procedure, nurses and physicians remove the drugs from a secure machine. Kwiatkowski was neither authorized to access the machine nor authorized to administer the drugs. In connection with his plea of guilty to federal criminal charges, Kwiatkowski admitted in federal court that, on approximately 50 occasions, prior to a medical procedure, he swapped syringes containing fentanyl for syringes that he had filled with saline. After injecting himself with fentanyl from diverted syringes, Kwiatkowski refilled the now contaminated syringes with saline to cover the diversions. Because Kwiatkowski was infected with Hepatitis C, these saline syringes were tainted with the virus. When the Exeter Patients were subsequently injected with the saline syringes, some of them became infected.
The Exeter Patients sued Triage for Kwiatkowski's actions based upon the doctrine of
MBIC initiated the present action in February 2013 when it petitioned for a declaratory judgment to determine the scope of coverage available to AHSA under the Arch and MBIC policies.
Thereafter, the parties filed numerous motions for summary judgment, motions for partial summary judgment, cross-motions for summary judgment, objections, and responses, all of which led to a series of trial court orders. In January 2014, the trial court issued an order ruling that the Arch policies' exclusion for "abuse or molestation" did not bar coverage. In April 2014, the trial court issued two orders. In the first order, it ruled that the Arch policies' exclusion for "dishonest, fraudulent, malicious, uninsurable acts" did not bar coverage based upon Exeter's conduct, with the ruling subject to reexamination at the close of discovery. The second order required Arch to contribute equally with MBIC to Exeter's past and future defense costs, subject to Arch's right to seek reimbursement of defense costs at the close of the litigation.
Exeter moved for reconsideration of the trial court's ruling that MBIC was required to share Exeter's defense costs with Arch. In May 2014, the court denied Exeter's motion and issued an order ruling that: (1) Arch was not judicially estopped from asserting that coverage under its policies should be determined under the professional liability coverage form, not the general liability coverage form; (2) the underlying acts triggered the Arch policies' general liability coverage form; (3) the underlying acts constituted multiple occurrences under the Arch policies; (4) the underlying acts covered both the 2011 and 2012 Arch policies; (5) the Arch policies' umbrella coverage form provided coverage to both Exeter and AHSA; and (6) Arch's policies and MBIC's policies equally provided primary, rather than excess, coverage to AHSA.
Exeter, MBIC, and Arch all filed motions for reconsideration. In June 2014, the trial court: (1) reaffirmed its prior ruling that neither the Arch policies nor the MBIC policies were in excess of the other's policies; (2) ruled the Arch policies' exclusion for "dishonest, fraudulent, malicious, uninsurable acts" did not bar coverage based upon Kwiatkowski's conduct; and (3) ruled that the Arch policies' general liability coverage form exclusion for "healthcare professional services" did not bar coverage, with the ruling subject to reexamination at the close of discovery.
In July 2014, Arch appealed the trial court's coverage rulings to this court. We dismissed Arch's appeal as an improper interlocutory appeal because the court's orders did not finally resolve all issues among all parties.
In May 2016, the trial court issued an order finalizing its grant of summary judgment against Arch and in favor of Triage, Exeter, and AHSA in accordance with its prior orders. The court also ruled that, because Triage, Exeter, and AHSA were the prevailing parties, they were entitled to their costs and reasonable attorney's fees from Arch pursuant to RSA 491:22-b (2010).
Arch subsequently filed the present appeal.
In reviewing a trial court's rulings on cross-motions for summary judgment, we "consider the evidence in the light most favorable to each party in its capacity as the nonmoving party and, if no genuine issue of material fact exists, we determine whether the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law."
"In a declaratory judgment action to determine the coverage of an insurance policy, the burden of proof is always on the insurer, regardless of which party brings the petition."
"Insurers are free to contractually limit the extent of their liability through use of a policy exclusion, provided it violates no statutory provision."
Arch first argues that the "healthcare professional services" exclusion in the general liability coverage form excludes coverage. Arch contends that the exclusion bars coverage for claims that allege damage resulting from the provision of medical services, regardless of whether Triage performed those medical services. Triage argues that the exclusion only bars coverage if damage resulted from medical services that it performed. Thus, Triage argues that because the Exeter Patients allege that Triage negligently hired and supervised Kwiatkowski, but not that Triage performed medical services, the exclusion does not apply. Exeter argues that its own coverage is derivative of Triage's coverage;
The healthcare professional services exclusion provides that the insurance does not apply to any claim that alleges "`Bodily injury' or `property damage' that result[s] from the performance of or failure to perform `health care professional services.'"
According the words their plain and ordinary meanings, we conclude that the healthcare professional services exclusion plainly applies to any claim that alleges bodily injury that results from the provision of medical services, regardless of whether Triage performed those services. Contrary to Triage's and Exeter's interpretations, the exclusion is not restricted to situations in which Triage provided the medical services. The exclusion sets forth a type of harm for which coverage is excluded: bodily injury that results from the provision of medical services. That is precisely the type of harm that occurred in this case: the Exeter Patients' claims allege a bodily injury (their infection with Hepatitis C) that resulted from a medical procedure (their injection with tainted medication). Accordingly, the healthcare professional services exclusion bars coverage under the general liability coverage form for the Exeter Patients' claims.
Triage and Exeter alternatively argue that the healthcare professional services exclusion is ambiguous as to whether it applies only when Triage performs the medical services, and that the ambiguity must be construed in favor of coverage. They contend that Arch could have specified that the exclusion applies regardless of who performs the medical services and that its failure to do so makes the exclusion ambiguous.
We find no ambiguity in the healthcare professional services exclusion. The provision plainly applies to any claim that alleges bodily injury that results from the performance of healthcare professional services. Although Arch could have added language stating that the exclusion applies regardless of who performs the medical services, it did not need to do so because no part of the exclusion's language suggests in any way that the exclusion is limited to circumstances in which Triage itself performs the medical services. We will not manipulate the exclusion's language in an effort to create an ambiguity.
Exeter and Triage next argue that the above interpretation of the healthcare professional services exclusion renders the "separation of insureds" clause in the policy meaningless, and, therefore, we must interpret the exclusion to apply only when Triage performs the medical services that resulted in bodily injury. The separation of insureds clause, which is contained within an endorsement that affects all three of the insurance coverage forms, provides:
Triage points to numerous cases that interpret insurance exclusions that contain the phrases "the insured," "an insured," and "any insured" in light of a "separation of insureds" or "severability of insurance" clause. If a policy containing a separation of insureds clause provides that coverage is excluded if "the insured" takes a specific action, courts look at the conduct of the insured who is seeking coverage, rather than the conduct of the other insureds, to determine if the exclusion applies.
However, as Triage acknowledges, the phrases "the insured," "an insured," and "any insured" are not at issue in the healthcare professional services exclusion. Instead, the exclusion is plainly written to exclude coverage of claims that allege bodily injury that results from the provision of medical services, without regard for whether an insured provided the medical services. It does not matter if the medical services were provided by "the insured," "an insured," "any insured," or even by a person who is not an insured. Simply put, if a claim alleges bodily injury that resulted from the provision of medical services, the general liability coverage form excludes coverage for that claim. Because that is precisely what occurred in this case, the general liability coverage form provides no coverage.
Furthermore, this interpretation does not render the separation of insureds clause meaningless, as Triage argues. The general liability coverage form contains other exclusions that apply based on conduct of "the insured" or "any insured." Because the separation of insureds clause can affect these other exclusions, it is not rendered meaningless simply because it does not also affect the healthcare professional services exclusion.
Exeter and Triage next argue that the healthcare professional services exclusion should not apply to the Exeter Patients' claims that Triage negligently hired, employed, trained, and supervised Kwiatkowski because those claims do not allege damage that resulted from medical services. Essentially, Exeter and Triage argue that it is the nature of the claim upon which liability is sought to be predicated that controls whether the exclusion applies. Thus, they argue that, for the purposes of the claims against Triage, the alleged bodily injury resulted from negligent employment practices, not the negligent provision of medical services. We disagree.
We previously rejected a similar argument in
Here, the Exeter Patients brought negligent hiring, employment, training, and supervision claims against Triage. The injury that they alleged — infection with Hepatitis C — resulted from Exeter employees injecting them during the course of their receiving medical treatment with syringes that Kwiatkowski had previously filled with a tainted saline solution. Thus, the Exeter Patients' alleged injury resulted from the provision of medical services, thereby triggering the healthcare professional services exclusion. Put another way, Triage could not be liable for negligent hiring and supervision unless a claimant suffered an injury, and the claimants in this case would not have been injured by Triage's negligent hiring and supervision
Exeter also argues that "[s]hould the Court determine that the Healthcare Professional Services Exclusion bars coverage under the [general liability coverage form], the Court should find coverage for Triage and Exeter under the [professional liability coverage form]." However, Exeter did not preserve this alternative argument. Arch primarily appealed whether specific exclusions in the general liability and umbrella
Arch next argues that the trial court erred by finding that coverage under the umbrella coverage form was not excluded. Arch argues that the umbrella coverage form does not provide broader coverage than the underlying general liability and healthcare professional liability coverage forms. Because we have found that there is no coverage under the general liability coverage form, and because Triage and Exeter did not appeal the trial court's ruling that the healthcare professional liability coverage form provides no coverage, Arch argues that the umbrella coverage form consequently provides no coverage. With regard to Exeter's claim for umbrella coverage, we agree with Arch.
The umbrella coverage form provides that "[a]dditional insured coverage provided by this insurance will not be broader than coverage provided by the `underlying insurance.'" "Underlying insurance" refers to the general liability and healthcare professional liability coverage forms. Neither party disputes that Exeter is an additional insured under the policies. Because Exeter is an additional insured, if the general liability and healthcare professional liability coverage forms provide no coverage, the umbrella coverage form cannot provide coverage, as any coverage would necessarily be broader than the coverage under the underlying insurance.
As discussed above, coverage for Exeter under the general liability coverage form is barred by the healthcare professional services exclusion. Additionally, because neither Exeter nor Triage appealed the trial court's ruling that the healthcare professional liability coverage form was inapplicable, there is no coverage for Exeter under that coverage form either. Therefore, because the underlying insurance provides no coverage for Exeter, the umbrella coverage form also provides no coverage for Exeter.
With regard to Triage, Arch stated during oral argument that the umbrella coverage form would provide no coverage for Triage if the underlying insurance were found to provide no coverage. In support of this statement, Arch cited the umbrella coverage form's provision that "[a]dditional insured coverage provided by this insurance will not be broader than coverage provided by the `underlying insurance.'" However, because Triage is a named insured under the underlying insurance, not an additional insured, the provision that Arch cited is inapplicable. Accordingly, subject to the exclusions that Arch argues bar coverage, the umbrella coverage form may still provide coverage for Triage, even though there is no coverage for Triage under the underlying insurance.
Arch argues that coverage for Triage under the umbrella coverage form is barred by two exclusions: (1) an "Abuse or Molestation" exclusion; and (2) a "Dishonest, Fraudulent, Malicious, Uninsurable Acts" exclusion.
The first exclusion that Arch argues bars coverage is the "Abuse or Molestation" exclusion. That exclusion provides that the umbrella coverage form does not apply to any claim or loss that alleges "[i]njury or damage that is in any way related to, in whole or in part, `abuse or molestation.'" The umbrella policy defines `abuse or molestation' as follows: "`Abuse or Molestation' includes but is not limited to any physical, mental, or moral harassment, assault or intimacy of a sexual nature even if consensual."
The parties agree that Kwiatkowski's conduct was not "of a sexual nature." However, the parties dispute whether this exclusion applies only to conduct of a sexual nature, or whether the exclusion also applies to conduct of a non-sexual nature. Triage argues that the phrase "of a sexual nature even if consensual" modifies the words "harassment," "assault," and "intimacy." Thus, under its interpretation, the exclusion cannot apply to conduct of a non-sexual nature, such as Kwiatkowski's conduct. Arch argues that the phrase "of a sexual nature even if consensual" only modifies the word "intimacy." Thus, under Arch's interpretation, non-sexual harassment and non-sexual assault can also trigger the exclusion. Because we find both interpretations reasonable, we construe the exclusion narrowly to permit coverage.
In support of its argument that the abuse or molestation exclusion unambiguously applies to non-sexual conduct, Arch cites multiple cases that have found coverage for non-sexual conduct barred by an abuse or molestation exclusion.
However, none of the insurance policies in those cases provided a definition for
Arch next argues that "when an exclusion is intended to apply more narrowly — only to conduct of a sexual nature — the exclusion says so." In support of its argument, it cites multiple cases that have differently worded sexual acts exclusions.
However, the issue is not whether Arch could have written the abuse or molestation exclusion in a manner that more clearly excluded coverage only for conduct of a sexual nature. Rather, the issue is whether the abuse or molestation exclusion unambiguously applies to conduct that is not sexual in nature. Because the abuse or molestation exclusion can reasonably be read to exclude coverage only for conduct of a sexual nature, we interpret the exclusion in favor of coverage.
The final exclusion that Arch argues bars coverage is the "Dishonest, Fraudulent, Malicious, Uninsurable Acts" exclusion (malicious acts exclusion). That exclusion provides that the umbrella coverage form does not apply to any claim or loss that alleges: "`Bodily injury', `property damage' or `medical professional injury' arising out of any dishonest, fraudulent or malicious act, including reckless violation of any statute, or any act deemed uninsurable by law, committed by any insured."
The trial court found "no dispute that Mr. Kwiatkowski's actions were a `malicious act.'"
Arch argues that the trial court's analysis was erroneous because it effectively limited its analysis to whether Kwiatkowski's acts were within the "scope of his employment." Arch contends that the phrase "or while performing duties related to the conduct of [Triage's] business" covers conduct that is broader than that encompassed by the scope of Kwiatkowski's employment. Arch asserts that Kwiatkowski committed a malicious act
We agree with the trial court and Arch that if the policy language "or while performing duties related to conduct of [Triage's] business" is to be given effect, it must encompass at least some conduct that is not encompassed by the policy language "within the scope of employment."
We have not previously interpreted whether an employee's intentional wrongful conduct can occur while performing duties related to conduct of the employer's business. Other courts that have addressed this issue generally agree that an employee's intentional wrongful conduct does not usually fall "within the scope of employment," but they reach varying results regarding whether such conduct falls within broader phrases such as "while performing duties related to the conduct of the employer's business."
Courts that focus upon whether the specific wrongful act was a duty of employment tend to find employees not to be insureds under their employer's policies.
Conversely, courts that focus upon the circumstances surrounding a wrongful act, such as whether the act was performed at the same time that the employee was performing job duties, or was performed at the time and place that an employee was supposed to be performing his duties, tend to find the employee to be an insured.
Bearing in mind this divided case law, we determine that Kwiatkowski was an insured within the meaning of the policy exclusion because the harm-causing conduct in which he engaged occurred at the same time as, and incidentally to, the duties he performed that were related to Triage's business. This interpretation gives meaning and effect to the word "while," which means "the time during which an action takes place or a condition exists."
Moreover, this interpretation comports with the parties' reasonable expectations. The purpose of the malicious acts exclusion is to exclude coverage for wrongs that one would not expect to fall within the scope of employment or other duties related to the employer's business. Under Triage's and Exeter's interpretation, the exclusion cannot reach these acts because an employee who commits such an act sheds the definition of "insured" for the purposes of that act. Thus, their interpretation would effectively strip the exclusion of any meaningful purpose.
Triage next argues that Kwiatkowski was not an insured because his lab technician duties were not duties related to the conduct of Triage's business. Triage asserts that its business is medical staffing, not the provision of health care services. In support of this argument, Triage relies upon an affidavit of its president stating that the company's business is medical staffing, not the provision of health care services. Triage further relies upon a "Business Description" contained within its insurance policies that lists its business as "Medical Registry."
There is no dispute that Kwiatkowski was a Triage employee between April 2011 and October 2011. Pursuant to the Triage-AHSA staffing contract, Exeter paid Triage for the hours worked by Triage employees. Based upon these facts, we cannot agree with Triage that Kwiatkowski was not performing duties related to Triage's business during this period. Kwiatkowski was a Triage employee, performing the duties of his employment, which resulted in income for Triage. Thus, while Kwiatkowski was a Triage employee, his duties at Exeter were related to the conduct of Triage's business.
In October 2011, however, Exeter hired Kwiatkowski. Because Kwiatkowski ceased to be a Triage employee at that time, he was not "performing duties related to the conduct of [Triage's] business," and he was therefore no longer an insured under Triage's insurance policies.
Therefore, for the claims that allege dates of exposure solely outside the period that Kwiatkowski was a Triage employee, Triage is entitled to summary judgment that it is covered under the umbrella coverage form. For the claims that allege dates of exposure solely within that period, the malicious acts exclusion applies, and Arch is entitled to summary judgment that it owes no defense or indemnity to Triage. However, for the remaining claims, those that allege dates of exposure both during and after the period that Kwiatkowski was a Triage employee, there is a disputed issue of material fact that precludes the grant of summary judgment for either party.
Triage next argues that, notwithstanding our determination that Kwiatkowski was an insured during the period that he was a Triage employee, the separation of insureds clause renders the malicious acts exclusion ambiguous regarding whether it can apply to Triage based upon the conduct of Kwiatkowski.
The separation of insureds clause provides that the umbrella coverage form applies "[s]eparately to each insured against whom `claim' is made or `suit' is brought." The malicious acts exclusion provides that the umbrella coverage form does not apply to any claim or loss that alleges: "`Bodily injury', `property damage' or `medical professional injury' arising out of any dishonest, fraudulent or malicious act, including reckless violation of any statute, or any act deemed uninsurable by law, committed by
However, for a policy to be construed to be ambiguous, it must be susceptible of two
Therefore, because the malicious acts exclusion is subject to only one
Arch argues that the trial court erred when it determined that Kwiatkowski's conduct constituted multiple occurrences under the Arch general liability coverage forms. Because we have found that the healthcare professional services exclusion precludes coverage to Triage and Exeter under the general liability coverage form, we need not address this argument.
In light of our ruling that the umbrella coverage form provides coverage to Triage for claims that allege dates of exposure after Kwiatkowski ceased to be a Triage employee, we note, however, that the question of how many occurrences is not at issue in the umbrella policy because the coverage for a single occurrence is equal to the form's total coverage.
Furthermore, the trial court ruled that the underlying events triggered coverage under
Exeter asks us to consider the trial court's ruling regarding Arch's obligation to share Exeter's defense costs equally with Exeter. Exeter argues that Arch should be declared responsible for 100% of Exeter's defense costs. However, because Exeter did not raise this argument in a cross-appeal, it is not preserved for our review, and we decline to address it.
For the reasons stated above, we reverse the trial court's grant of summary
HICKS and CONBOY, JJ., sat for oral argument but did not participate in the final vote; DALIANIS, C.J., and BASSETT, J., concurred.
In the foregoing cases, in which we applied the efficient proximate cause doctrine, the covered cause of harm and the excluded cause of harm each