Sletten & Brettin Orthodontics, LLC v. Cont'l Cas. Co., No. 13-2918 (8th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseIn 2006, Sletten, an orthodontist practicing in Minnesota and Wisconsin, bought general liability and personal injury liability insurance from Continental through Wells Fargo. The next year, Sletten formed S&B, which opened an office in Hudson, Wisconsin and employed Brettin to practice orthodontics there. Sletten notified Wells Fargo that he had opened the Hudson office and requested coverage for the location. Wells Fargo added the Hudson office as an additional insured location but never added S&B as a named insured. In 2012, St. Croix Dental and Wolff sued, that Brettin, acting “on behalf of and with the knowledge and consent of” S&B, used his neighbor’s wireless network to post defamatory comments about St. Croix to the Internet. Brettin allegedly posed as a patient of St. Croix and criticized Wolff’s orthodontia. St. Croix alleged defamation and libel, civil conspiracy, and unfair competition. Continental refused to defend because the policy did not identify S&B as a named insured. S&B and Sletten then sued Continental and Wells Fargo. The Eighth Circuit affirmed dismissal, holding that the policy excluded coverage for acts done with the intent to injure; every claim pleaded that S&B and Brettin acted with the intent to injure.
Court Description: Civil case - Insurance. The policy in question excluded coverage for intent-to-injure acts; since the complaint against the insured alleged defamation with intent to injure,the policy did not provide coverage and the insurer did not have a duty to defend the suit.
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