Court Opinion

ID: 9513752
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 22:40:03.757001+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:06:00.823194
License: Public Domain

MARING, Justice, specially
concurring.
[¶ 48] I respectfully specially concur. I agree that Lynne has not raised a genuine question of material fact to avoid summary judgment. If, however, an act of God was a proximate cause of the loss, then in my opinion, there was an “occurrence” within the meaning of the policy.
[¶ 49] Under the policy in the present ease, an “occurrence” is defined as “an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions.” Other jurisdictions have recognized that the term “accident” in insurance policies includes damage caused by acts of God. 57A Am.Jur.2d Negligence § 42 (1989); see Royal Indemnity Co. v. McClatchey, 101 Ga.App. 507, 114 S.E.2d 394, 397 (1960); see also Dempsey v. City of Souris, 279 N.W.2d 418, 420 (N.D.1979). Under Section I, COVERAGE A(l.), the Grinnell policy in the instant case states:
a. We will pay those sums that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of “bodily injury” or “property damage” to which this insurance applies....
b. This insurance applies to “bodily injury” and “property damage” only if: (1) the “bodily injury” or “property damage” is caused by an “occurrence” that takes place in the “coverage territory” ...
Our Court has stated that “[i]f an act of God and the negligence of the defendant combine to produce the injury, the defendant is liable.” Lang v. Wonnenberg, 455 N.W.2d 832, 836 (N.D.1990) (citation omitted). Therefore, not only is there a duty to defend the insured under the Grinnell policy, but arguably, there is a duty to indemnify. Our Court has held: “The efficient proximate cause doctrine is generally recognized as the universal method for resolving coverage issues involving the concurrence of covered and excluded perils” and has concluded North Dakota had adopted it statutorily. Western Nat’l Mut. Ins. Co. v. Univ. of N.D., 2002 ND 63, ¶ 17, 643 N.W.2d 4. The efficient proximate cause “is considered the predominating cause of the loss.” Id. at ¶ 32.
[¶ 50] I do not believe .that exclusion 2j(5) would apply under these circum*131stances, because any damage caused by the act of God did not arise out of the insured’s operations. The act of God is an independent cause of the damage. In discussing the meaning of the words “arising out of’ the use of a motor vehicle in an automobile policy, our Court stated:
In determining the meaning of the phrase “arising out of,” courts have recognized that the causal relationship need not constitute a proximate cause, but on the other hand if an injury is directly caused by some independent or intervening cause it does not arise out of the use of an automobile, notwithstanding there may have been some remote connection between the use of an automobile and the injury complained of.
Norgaard v. Nodak Mut. Ins. Co., 201 N.W.2d 871, 875 (N.D.1972).
[¶ 51] In Shelby Ins. Co. v. Northeast Structures, Inc., 767 A.2d 75 (R.I.2001), a wood framed indoor arena and stable collapsed during a storm. Id. at 75-76. The insurance company that insured the builder, Northeast Structures, filed a declaratory judgment, seeking to establish it did not have a duty to indemnify or defend the builder under the commercial general liability insurance contract. Id. at 76. The builder claimed the damage was the result of a storm and high winds or an “Act of God.” Id. The Supreme Court of Rhode Island reversed the grant of summary judgment to the insurance company, holding that the builder’s defense raised the possibility that the collapse was the result of an “Act of God” rather than faulty work. Id. at 77. It concluded that a question of fact existed with respect to the cause of the collapse and that if the cause of the collapse was an “Act of God,” the insurance company would have a duty to defend and indemnify the builder. Id. at 76.
[¶ 52] Lynne raised as an affirmative defense “an act of nature” occurred which caused the house to roll off the jacks. North Dakota recognizes the affirmative defense of “Act of God.” Huber v. Oliver County, 1999 ND 220, 602 N.W.2d 710. However, in order to prevail on the act-of-God defense at trial, Lynne would need to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the winds “(1) were unprecedented and extraordinary; (2) could not have been reasonably anticipated; (3) could not have been reasonably provided against; and (4) were the sole proximate cause of the damage to the ... property.” Lang, 455 N.W.2d at 836 (citation omitted). Whether a loss is occasioned by an act of God is ordinarily a question of fact. Id. In order to successfully resist Grinnell’s motion for summary judgment, Lynne must have presented competent admissible evidence which would raise a genuine issue of material fact that the winds were extraordinary, unexpected, could not have been provided against, and were a proximate cause of the damage. Lynne has failed to do so.
[¶ 53] I, therefore, respectfully specially concur.
[¶ 54JWILLIAM A. NEUMANN, JJ., concur.