Opinion ID: 77054
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Distinguishing Excluded Conduct

Text: 44 Though the Florida courts have not construed such exclusions in the context of sexual misconduct, other jurisdictions provide some guidance. In Ledbetter v. Concord General Corp., 665 So.2d 1166 (La. 1996), a woman was raped by a man who broke into her motel room and threatened her with various weapons. The man then kidnapped the woman by ordering her into his car. The woman eventually escaped as they drove out of the motel parking lot. The motel's insurer argued that coverage was excluded by an assault and battery exclusion. The Louisiana Supreme Court agreed that the exclusion applied to the rape, but disagreed as to the kidnapping, finding that the assault and battery exclusion did not exclude coverage for damages resulting solely from the kidnapping. Id. at 1171. 45 The Colorado Supreme Court, in Bohrer v. Church Mutual Ins. Co., 965 P.2d 1258 (Colo.1998), held that damages arising from sex during counseling sessions by a minister were excluded by a sexual misconduct exclusion, even though the policy covered counseling activities. The court reasoned that the counseling and the sexual misconduct were inseparably intertwined because they occurred at the same time and in the same place. However, injuries caused by counseling activities where sex did not occur were not excluded because those activities were separable in time and space. The court found that because the counseling relationship predated and continued for a period of time prior to the sexual conduct, and contributed to her emotional and physical distress, the causes were separable. Id. at 1261. Had no sexual contact taken place, [the victim] could have had a viable claim against [the minister] for breach of fiduciary based solely on counseling activities for which the coverage of this policy is answerable. Id. at 1263. 46 The Insurer attempts to distinguish Bohrer from the present case, by arguing that the rape and the non-sexual acts are intertwined akin to the counseling sessions in Bohrer once the sexual relationship commenced. In Florida, however, it is the immediate cause (the act that causes the damage) rather than the underlying tort (the insured's negligence) that determines the number of occurrences. The Florida Supreme Court, in Koikos v. Travelers Ins. Co., 849 So.2d 263 (Fla.2003), held that each separate pull of a trigger during the same shooting spree is an event sufficiently separate in time and space to constitute an independent occurrence. As applied here, the Victim's injuries from assaults and batteries occurring during the course of the sexual acts may or may not be intertwined with the sexual misconduct, depending upon the perpetrator's purpose. However, non-sexual acts (the assaults, batteries, kidnapping, false imprisonment) occurring independent of the sexual acts, i.e., during the robbery, are not inseparably intertwined with the sexual misconduct. 47 Each of these non-sexual acts would constitute a crime and would have caused injuries (both physical and emotional) even without the existence of any sexual misconduct. Because the CGL does not unambiguously exclude coverage for injuries arising out of any non-sexual acts, such as kidnapping, assault, and battery, we hold that the CGL, at a minimum, covers any damages relating to the non-sexual acts of the Incident, and excludes only those injuries suffered as a result of the sexual acts. 48 We stress, however, and explain below, that we find that this represents coverage at a minimum. Under these circumstances, where the loss can be attributed to multiple causes, Florida law requires coverage of all of the Victim's injuries as related to the Incident.