Rodenburg LLP v. Cincinnati Insurance Co., No. 20-2521 (8th Cir. 2021)
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Rodenburg purchased a Commercial Umbrella Liability Policy from Cincinnati. In the underlying action, a plaintiff filed suit against Rodenburg, asserting several theories including wrongful garnishment, tort-based claims, and violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Rodenburg filed a claim under the policy for coverage of the underlying lawsuit, but Cincinnati denied coverage.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Cincinnati, concluding that the policy did not provide coverage for the underlying lawsuit and Cincinnati had no duty to defend Rodenburg under the policy. In this case, the underlying complaint alleged "personal and advertising injury" that was not "caused by an 'occurrence.'" The court explained that any potential liability arose either directly or indirectly from conduct that was alleged to violate the FDCPA, however, and was thus excluded from coverage by the Violation of Statutes Exclusion. Therefore, Cincinnati did not breach its contractual duty to defend Rodenburg.
Court Description: [Wollman, Author, with Colloton and Kobes, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Contracts. Cincinnati issued the plaintiff law firm a commercial liability policy and plaintiff sought coverage and a defense when it was sued for wrongful garnishment, violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and other tort-based claims after it mistakenly garnished a person's wages; the district court did not err in determining that the injury was excluded from coverage under the "violation of statutes" exclusion; because the injured party's complaint alleged only injuries arising from the law firm's violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Cincinnati did not breach is contractual duty to defend plaintiff.
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