FINE, J.
¶ 1 This is an insurance-coverage case. GE-Milwaukee, LLC, Meriggi Management, LLC, and John R. Meriggi appeal the amended order for judgment, which declared that an insurance policy issued to them by Admiral Insurance Company did not cover the relief sought by the State of Wisconsin in connection with their dating-service business in Wisconsin, and dismissed Admiral Insurance "from this action on the merits." We affirm.
¶ 2 The parties agree that the operative complaint for the purposes of this appeal is the State's first amended complaint, although it was superseded by a second
¶ 3 According to the operative complaint, GE-Milwaukee is a Nevada company organized by John Meriggi, and is doing business in Wisconsin as "Great Expectations." Meriggi Management is GE-Milwaukee's management company, and provides "management, administrative and marketing services for" GE-Milwaukee as well as other similar businesses owned by John Meriggi. John Meriggi is alleged to be "the creator, sole owner and manager of both Meriggi Management, LLC and GE-Milwaukee, LLC." The operative complaint claims that the defendants violated the following statutes or administrative codes in connection with their dating-service business:
The operative complaint also alleged that "[s]ome of [the] defendants' violations of Wis. STAT. §§ 100.18 and 100.20 and WIS. ADMIN. CODE §§ ATCP 127.81 and 127.82(2) were perpetrated against consumers who were at least 62 years of age or disabled" and that this violated Wis. STAT. § 100.264.
¶ 4 The operative complaint pegs the defendants' liability for the alleged violations on the following interrelated averments:
¶ 5 The defendants contend that Admiral Insurance has a duty to defend the State's action and indemnify them for the relief the State seeks. Admiral Insurance intervened and sought a declaration that it was not so obligated. The circuit court, in a comprehensive oral opinion, agreed with Admiral Insurance.
¶ 6 Although whether to grant or deny a declaratory-judgment motion is generally within the circuit court's discretion, our review is de novo when that decision depends purely on legal issues, as it does here. See Bellile v. American Family Mut. Ins. Co., 2004 WI App 72, ¶ 6, 272 Wis.2d 324, 329, 679 N.W.2d 827, 830. Our review is also de novo when we construe and apply statutes and insurance contracts, as we also do here. See Wisconsin State Local Government Property Ins. Fund v. Thomas A. Mason Co., 2008 WI App 49, ¶ 9, 308 Wis.2d 512, 519, 748 N.W.2d 476, 480. Thus, the defendants' extensive analysis and criticism of the circuit court's oral decision is largely immaterial to our review except where the defendants' analysis bears on the issues that we must decide, even though, as is usual, the circuit court's evaluation can be helpful. See Bellile, 2004 WI App 72, ¶ 6, 272 Wis.2d at 329, 679 N.W.2d at 830.
Estate of Sustache v. American Family Mut. Ins. Co., 2008 WI 87, ¶ 20, 311 Wis.2d 548, 560, 751 N.W.2d 845, 850-851 (emphasis by Sustache; citations omitted). If an insurance policy covers one claim, the insurer must provide a defense for the entire action. Atlantic Mut. Ins. Co. v. Badger Medical Supply Co., 191 Wis.2d 229, 242, 528 N.W.2d 486, 491 (Ct.App.1995).
¶ 7 In determining a coverage issue, we look at the insurance policy sequentially: is there a grant of coverage, and, if so, are there any applicable exclusions? See American Family Mut. Ins. Co. v. American Girl, Inc., 2004 WI 2, ¶ 24, 268 Wis.2d 16, 32-33, 673 N.W.2d 65, 73. Further, "[w]e analyze each exclusion separately; the inapplicability of one exclusion will not reinstate coverage where another exclusion has precluded it." Id., 2004 WI 2, ¶ 24, 268 Wis.2d at 33, 673 N.W.2d at 73. If any exclusion clearly bars coverage, we need not examine a potentially more difficult question of whether the policy under the "four corners" rule grants coverage. See Flejter v. West Bend Mut. Ins. Co., 2010 WI App 174, ¶ 7, 330 Wis.2d 721, 729, 793 N.W.2d 913, 916. As we see below, that is the situation here.
¶ 8 As noted, the State's operative complaint alleges a pervasive scheme to defraud Wisconsin citizens that violated the following provisions: WIS. STAT. §§ 100.18, 100.175, 100.20, 100.52 & 100.264, and WIS. ADMIN. CODE ch. 127. We look at these provisions briefly.
¶ 9 WISCONSIN STAT. § 100.18. The State's operative complaint asserts that the defendants violated this provision by making "untrue, deceptive, or misleading statements" in connection with their dating-service business. WISCONSIN STAT. § 100.18 is long and forbids, as material here, "any assertion, representation or statement of fact which is untrue, deceptive or misleading."
¶ 10 WISCONSIN STAT. § 100.175. This regulates "`dating service'" contracts, and the State's operative complaint alleges that Great Expectations's contracts with its
¶ 11 WISCONSIN STAT. § 100.20. This prohibits "[u]nfair methods of competition in business and unfair trade practices in business." WIS. STAT. § 100.20(1). It also empowers the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to "issue general orders forbidding methods of competition in business or trade practices in business which are determined by the department to be unfair." Sec. 100.20(2)(a). Pursuant to that authority, the Department issued WIS. ADMIN. CODE ch. ATCP 127, which regulates, among other things, "telephone solicitations." Wis. ADMIN. CODE §§ ATCP 127.02-127.20. The State claims that Great Expectations violated various provisions of ch. ATCP 127 in its telephone solicitation of customers by not revealing:
The State's operative complaint also asserts that Great Expectations falsely represented that Great Expectations "was offering its services at a reduced price" and "was making a special offer for a limited period of time," alleged to violate § ATCP 127.14(8) & (11). The State also claims that Great Expectations "[m]ade other false, deceptive or misleading representations, including those itemized in paragraph 67" of the operative complaint, alleged to violate § ATCP 127.14(15).
¶ 12 Wisconsin Stat. § 100.52. Wisconsin Stat. § 100.52(3) requires that telephone solicitors register, and authorizes the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to promulgate rules in that regard. The State's operative complaint alleges that neither Great Expectations nor Meriggi Management, or the telephone solicitors employed by them had registered as required by the statute and by Wis. Admin. Code § ATCP 127.81(1)(a). The operative complaint also claims that the telemarketers violated Wisconsin's no-call prohibition set out in § 100.52(4) and Wis. Admin. Code § ATCP 127.82(2).
¶ 13 WISCONSIN STAT. § 100.264. This applies enhanced penalties for those who violate, as material, WIS. STAT. §§ 100.18 and 100.20 "or a rule promulgated under one of those sections," § 100.264(2), in connection with persons either disabled or sixty-two years or older. The State's operative
¶ 14 The defendants argue that the Admiral Insurance policy gives them coverage via this clause in the policy's "insuring agreement" (uppercasing omitted):
Admiral Insurance does not dispute that the defendants are "insured[s]" under this clause, or that the "business as described" and "`coverage territory'" conditions are met. Rather, Admiral Insurance argues that the four corners of the State's complaint asserts claims for volitional, not negligent acts, and, therefore, there is no coverage. The defendants, on the other hand, make essentially two interrelated contentions why this clause grants coverage: (1) they argue that "the State alleges liability that can arise from negligence and not intentional acts or omissions"; and (2) they argue that the operative complaint's allegation that John Meriggi and Meriggi Management are liable because, inter alia, of their "constructive"—in addition to alleged "actual"—knowledge of Great Expectations's business practices encompasses negligence, and that thus, under Hedtcke v. Sentry Ins. Co., 109 Wis.2d 461, 487-488, 326 N.W.2d 727, 740 (1982) (Unless policy specifically provides to the contrary, "an innocent insured" may recover under a policy even though the damage was caused by the intentional act of another insured.), they have coverage. They also argue, albeit without development, that the statutes and regulations permit imposition of liability for inadvertent as well as volitional or intentional violations. We need not decide these matters, however, or whether the phrase "constructive knowledge" when used in connection with Meriggi Management and John Meriggi and the operative complaint's recitation of interlocking control and oversight, implicates the doctrine of "willful blindness" so as to transmute the concept of "negligence" into one of volition, see, e.g., Global-Tech Appliances, Inc. v. SEB S.A., ___ U.S. ___, 131 S.Ct. 2060, 2070-2071, 179 L.Ed.2d 1167 (2011), because the policy has a specific exclusion that relieves Admiral Insurance of any obligation to defend or indemnify, as we show next.
¶ 15 Admiral Insurance points to the following clause in the policy as excluding coverage for the claims the State asserts in the operative complaint:
(Emphasis added.)
Order affirmed.
Id., ___ U.S. ___, 131 S.Ct. 2060, 2070-2071, 179 L.Ed.2d 1167 (2011) (footnote omitted).