Lewis v. Allstate Ins. Co.

Lewis v. Allstate Ins. Co.

Opinion

ORDER ON MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Before the Court are a motion for summary judgment filed by plaintiff Barbara Lewis on counts I and II of her complaint and a cross-motion for summary judgment by defendant Allstate Insurance Company. The major issue is whether Allstate had a duty to defend Ms. Lewis when she and her sons were sued by Justine Giroux based on an assault committed by Ms. Lewis's sons on Ms. Giroux at Ms. Lewis's residence.

Summary Judgment

Summary judgment should be granted if there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. In considering a motion for summary judgment, the court is required to consider only the portions of the record referred to and the material facts set forth in the parties' Rule 56(h) statements. E.g., Johnson v. McNeil, 2002 ME 99 ¶ 8, 800 A.2d 702. The facts must be considered in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Id. Thus, for purposes of summary judgment, any factual disputes must be resolved against the movant. Nevertheless, when the facts offered by a party in opposition to summary judgment would not, if offered at trial, be sufficient to withstand a motion [*2]  for judgment as a matter of law, summary judgment should be granted. Rodrigue v. Rodrigue, 1997 ME 99 ¶ 8, 694 A.2d 924.

Undisputed Facts

In this case the relevant facts are not disputed.

Justine Giroux was injured in an assault by James and Alex Lewis, two sons of Barbara Lewis, at Barbara Lewis's residence in Windham on or about November 9, 2016. This ultimately resulted in Alex's conviction for aggravated assault in June 2017 and James's conviction for elevated aggravated assault and aggravated assault in November 2017. Allstate SMF ¶¶ 14-15 (admitted).¹

Thereafter Justine Giroux filed a civil action against Barbara, Alex, and James Lewis, and a copy of Giroux's complaint is annexed to the affidavit of Barbara Lewis as Exhibit C. Lewis SMF ¶ 1 (admitted). The complaint alleged that Giroux had been injured by Alex and James Lewis at Barbara Lewis's residence. As against Barbara Lewis, the complaint further alleged that although Barbara Lewis had not been present in the residence when Giroux was injured, Barbara Lewis had a duty to provide reasonably safe premises, was aware of the risk of injury, and had negligently breached her duty. Giroux Complaint ¶¶ 5-8, 14-16. As against Alex and James Lewis, the complaint filed by Giroux asserted [*3]  claims of negligence and assault and battery and alleged that the assault and battery had been committed with malicious intent. Giroux Complaint ¶¶ 18-26.

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