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A federal district court in Texas has ruled that an insurance company had no duty to defend or indemnify a club sued by the parents of a girl who died after a horse she was riding at the club fell on her – even if the parents contended that the horse fell because of a dangerous condition at the club.

The Case

Brian and Rhonda Faust's daughter died after a horse she was riding fell on her during a sporting event at the Burleson County Saddle Club. The Fausts sued the club, asserting that it was liable for their daughter's death because a dangerous condition at the club had caused the horse to fall.

After the club sought coverage for the Fausts' suit from its insurer, Colony Insurance Company, Colony sought a declaration from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas that it had no duty to defend or indemnify the club against claims brought by the Fausts.

Relying on its policy's exclusion precluding coverage for any injury arising directly or indirectly from contact with animals, Colony moved for summary judgment. It argued that the exclusion applied because the complained-of injury arose directly from a horse falling on the Fausts' daughter.

The Colony Policy

The Colony policy provided:

This insurance does not apply to “bodily injury”, “property damage” or “personal and advertising injury” arising directly or indirectly out of . . . animals.

The District Court's Decision

The district court granted the motion.

In its decision, the district court explained that the Fausts alleged that a horse “slipped on a dangerous latent condition on the land” and fell on their daughter, causing serious injuries that led to her death. According to the district court, these allegations demonstrated that Piper Faust's death arose directly or indirectly “out of animals” and that the horse was a but-for cause of her death.

The district court rejected the argument asserted by the Fausts and the club that the animal exclusion in Colony's policy did not apply because the injury to Piper Faust did not “aris[e] directly or indirectly” from contact with the horse but that the but-for cause in this case was a dangerous premises condition and not the horse that fell on Piper Faust.

According to the district court, an incident “may have many but-for causes” and, here, the horse was a but-for cause. Thus, the district court ruled, the injury to Piper Faust arose “directly or indirectly” from contact with an animal and fell outside the scope of the Colony insurance policy.

The district court concluded that because the Fausts did not allege facts that would potentially state a cause of action falling within the terms of the policy, Colony had no duty to defend or indemnify the club in the Fausts' suit.

The case is Colony Ins. Co. v. Burleson County Saddle Club, No. AU-17-CA-01051-SS (W.D. Tex. Aug. 16, 2018). Attorneys involved include: For Colony Insurance Company, Plaintiff, Counter Defendant: Matthew Rigney, LEAD ATTORNEY, Stephen Andrew Melendi, Tollefson Bradley Mitchell & Melendi, LLP, Dallas, TX. For Burleson County Saddle Club, Inc., Defendant, Counter Plaintiff: Michael S. Simpson, LEAD ATTORNEY, David E. Chamberlain, Chamberlain McHaney, Austin, TX. For Brian Faust, Individually and as Representative of the Estate and Wrongful Death Beneficiaries of Piper Faust, Deceased, Rhonda Faust, Individually and as Representative of the Estate and Wrongful Death Beneficiaries of Piper Faust, Deceased, Defendants: R. Scott Westlund, LEAD ATTORNEY, Ketterman Rowland & Westlund, San Antonio, TX.

Steven A. Meyerowitz, Esq., is the Director of FC&S Legal, the Editor-in-Chief of the Insurance Coverage Law Report, and the Founder and President of Meyerowitz Communications Inc. As FC&S Legal Director, Mr. Meyerowitz, a member of the team that conceptualized FC&S Legal, provides daily analysis and commentary on the most significant insurance coverage law decisions from courts across the country and news regarding legislative and regulatory developments. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Mr. Meyerowitz was an attorney at a prominent Wall Street law firm before founding Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company.