Court Opinion

ID: 9730917
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 15:27:59.134768+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:10.877912
License: Public Domain

FLEMING, Judge
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent on the question of St. Paul Fire’s duty to defend the school district on the claims brought against it by Robert Mohn. As a general rule, an insurer’s duty to defend arises when the claim against the insured, if established, would require the insurer to indemnify the insured. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Louis A. Roser Co., 585 F.2d 932, 936 (8th Cir.1978); Mutual Serv. Cas. Ins. Co. v. Luetmer, 474 N.W.2d 365, 368 (Minn.App.1991). In this case, the only relief Mohn sought was reinstatement. Clearly, St. Paul Fire could not reinstate Mohn. The claims brought by Mohn against the school district did not fall within the indemnification coverage of the St. Paul Fire policy, and St. Paul Fire was not obligated to defend against those claims.
The St. Paul Fire policy provides:
This agreement protects against losses and expenses that occur when claims or
suits are brought against you or any protected person for a wrongful act based on:
• An error or omission.
• Negligence
• Breach of duty. Or
• Misstatement or misleading statement.
I do not agree that St. Paul Fire’s agreement to pay “losses and expenses” can be converted into an open-ended obligation to defend any suit brought against the insured. If the school district, without justification, breached a contract with one of its suppliers, the majority’s interpretation of the policy language would require St. Paul Fire to defend a claim brought against the school district as a result, since it would be an “error” for the school district to breach a contract in this manner. It seems clear to me that this is not what the parties intended.
The duty to defend under an insurance policy is broader than the duty to indemnify. Jostens, Inc. v. Mission Ins. Co., 387 N.W.2d 161, 165-66 (Minn.1986). However, the duty to defend must be measured against the duty to indemnify. This is the contractual undertaking to which an insurer agrees. Because the majority’s opinion imposes upon the insurer an obligation it did not agree to assume, I respectfully dissent.