SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
APPELLATE DIVISION
A-6427-95T5
PRUDENTIAL PROPERTY & CASUALTY
INSURANCE COMPANY, a New Jersey
Corporation,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
JAMES BOYLAN, LINDA BOYLAN,
RYAN BOYLAN, MINNIE Hz, an
infant by her parents and natural
guardians ROGER Hz and
EDNA Hz, and ROGER Hz
and EDNA Hz,See footnote 1 individually,
Defendants-Respondents.
____________________________________
MINNIE Hz, an infant by her
parent and natural guardian,
ROGER Hz, and ROGER Hz
individually and EDNA Hz,
Plaintiffs,
v.
JAMES BOYLAN, LINDA BOYLAN
and RYAN BOYLAN
Defendants.
__________________________________________________
Argued December 1, 1997 - Decided January 22,
1998
Before Judges Petrella, Skillman, and Eichen.
On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey,
Law Division, Morris County.
Richard L. Marcickiewicz argued the cause for
appellant (Sears, Sweeney & Marcickiewicz,
attorneys; Mr. Marcickiewicz, of counsel and
on the brief).
Andrew A. Gioia argued the cause for
respondents Minnie Hz, Roger Hz, and Edna Hz.
David J. Marx, Jr. argued the cause for
respondents James and Linda Boylan.
No brief was filed on behalf of respondent
Ryan Boylan.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
PETRELLA, P.J.A.D.
Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance Company (Prudential) appealsSee footnote 2 from the denial of its motion for summary judgment which sought a declaration that it was not obligated to indemnify or defend the Boylan defendants under their homeowner's insurance policy against claims asserted by the Hz's that the Boylans' fifteen year old son Ryan had sexually assaulted their five year old daughter while he was babysitting for them. Prudential also appeals the grant of the Boylans' cross-motion
for summary judgment declaring that Prudential's policy of
insurance afforded coverage for the claims of the Hz's, as well
as the denial of its motion for an order for release of the
juvenile records of Ryan and the order granting counsel fees to
the Boylans.
The motion judge ruled that Prudential's homeowners policy
provided coverage to James and Linda Boylan and that the policy's
business pursuits exception did not apply because this was a
"one-time only, casual accommodation to babysit in an emergency."
The judge also ruled that the insurance policy covered fifteen
year old Ryan Boylan as a matter of law because he was deemed to
lack the requisite intent or mental capacity to understand the
nature of his acts. There was no evidentiary hearing on that
issue. Although Ryan entered a guilty plea in the juvenile
proceeding in the Family Part, the judge denied Prudential's
application to have access to Ryan Boylan's juvenile court
records. Finally, the judge denied Prudential's request to stay
the trial pending this appealSee footnote 3.
On June 26, 1992, Mr. and Mrs. Hz were invited to a surprise
party and arranged for their five year old daughter and her
little brother to be watched by a babysitter. Mrs. Hz testified
that when her babysitter had an emergency and had to leave she
called the Boylan house and Ryan Boylan told her that his mother
was not home, although apparently his father was. Then Mrs. Hz
contacted Mrs. Boylan at work to arrange for babysitting for the
balance of that evening. Mrs. Hz testified that Mrs. Boylan told
her to bring her children to the Boylans' house and Ryan would
watch them until she came home about an hour later. Mrs. Hz took
Minnie and her little brother to the Boylans' house.
After Minnie, her brother and the Boylan children played
some games they went upstairs to go to bed. Minnie was taken to
a bedroom to go to sleep, but Ryan Boylan thereafter had the five
year old girl perform an act of oral sex on him. Ryan Boylan
admitted in subsequent juvenile court proceedings to sexually
molesting the girl.
Mrs. Hz testified that prior to June 1992, Mrs. Boylan quite
frequently had provided babysitting services for the Hz children
at a fee. Mrs. Boylan was Minnie's primary child care source,
spending up to eight hours a day with her since she was six or
seven months old.
However, Mrs. Hz testified that on this particular occasion
Mrs. Boylan was watching her children "as a favor" because of the
emergency. Although Mrs. Boylan did not ask for any compensation
either before or after watching the Hz children, Mrs. Hz gave
Mrs. Boylan $28 to split between herself and Ryan.
1. Coverage E - Personal Liability and
Coverage F - Medical Payments to Others do
not apply to bodily injury or property
damage:
a. which is expected or intended by the
insured...
Defendants argue that we should declare the law in New Jersey to be that in cases where a minor sexually abuses a much younger child it is the minor's subjective intent that should apply, rather than the objective intent standard that would apply to adults. Accordingly, the Hz's (as well as the Boylans) suggest that Ryan did not act intentionally, and therefore, the homeowner's insurance provides coverage for claims of negligence
against the minor as well as against the parents arising out of
the incident.
Although there may be some basis for considering a minor's
subjective intent in other areas of the law involving negligence
by minors with respect to sporting events and the like, or where
the minors are friends and of the same relative age, we reject
the subjective intent argument here. Whether or not N.J.S.A.
2C:4-11(1) creates a presumption of maturity for an individual
over the age of fourteen, it is manifest that this fifteen year
old boy knew what he was doing to this five year old girl.
The record is adequate to demonstrate that Ryan, under any
standard, did what he did intentionally, and hence, there is no
insurance coverage as to him.
Under N.J.S.A. 2C:4-11, an individual of fourteen and above
is presumed capable of understanding that he committed a wrong.
That the victim's pleadings in a civil case contained counts that
sounded in negligence, even if in an attempt to implicate
insurance coverage, does nothing to change the result here. The
acts were clearly intentional. Brill v. Guardian Life Ins. Co.
of America, supra (
142 N.J. 520).
We reject any argument that a purported exception in
Atlantic Employers Ins. Co. v. Tots & Toddlers Preschool Day Care
Center, Inc.,
239 N.J. Super. 276, 283 (App. Div.), certif.
denied,
122 N.J. 147 (1990), would somehow excuse Ryan as
"mentally incapacitated" because he was fourteen or fifteen years
of age. As noted in Atlantic Employers, it is not necessary to a
determination of coverage that the assured be charged with or
convicted of any offense before a penal law exclusion or an
intentional act exclusion can be applied. Id. at 282. The focus
of the inquiry in deciding if there is a covered occurrence is
whether the insured "expected or intended" the injury, not the
act which caused the injury. Voorhees v. Preferred Mutual Ins.
Co.,
128 N.J. 165, 183 (1992). Indeed, where, as here, the
actions are "particularly reprehensible," an intent to injure can
be presumed from the act without an inquiry into the actor's
subjective intent. Id. at 184. In our view, under the Atlantic
Employers case, as well as Voorhees, supra (
128 N.J. 165),
reversal as to coverage for Ryan Boylan is mandated.
We are not persuaded by cases which rely on subjective
intent reasoning, such as Allstate Ins. Co. v. Patterson,
904 F.
Supp. 1270, 1280-1283 (D. Utah 1995). In that case, which is
clearly distinguishable, the oldest of the three older boys was
accused of sexually abusing two younger boys not yet fourteen
years of age. All of the boys were friends. The Utah statute
provided a presumption that those fourteen and older had the same
capacity as adults to understand the consequences of their
actions. Id. at 1285. The Patterson court stated that it was
not determining that there was coverage, only that there was a
"possibility of coverage for the acts of the juvenile insureds
(slim though it may be)." Id. at 1287.
It is clear that what occurred here was neither negligent
nor accidental. Accordingly, there is no coverage for Ryan under
the homeowner's policy. See S.L. Industries v. American
Motorists Ins. Co.,
128 N.J. 188, 212 (1992); Voorhees, supra
(128 N.J. at 184).
In summary, the trial court erred in granting summary
judgement to Ryan Boylan. As a matter of law, Ryan Boylan, age
15, intended to injure Minnie Hz when he sexually molested her,
and therefore, is excluded from coverage under the homeowner's
insurance policy.
b. arising out of business pursuits of
the insured...
This exclusion does not apply to:
(1) activities which are ordinarily
incident to non-business pursuits...
Prudential argues that Mr. and Mrs. Boylan's activities
constituted a "business pursuit" and therefore the homeowner's
insurance policy does not provide coverage. Alternatively,
Prudential argues that providing babysitting services for the Hz
children was not an "activit[y] which [is] ordinarily incident to
non-business pursuits." The respondents counter that on the
night in question, there was no "business pursuit" because the
Boylans were asked to babysit for emergency reasons.
The motion judge concluded that the "business pursuit"
exception did not apply because the activity here was a "one time
only, casual accommodation to baby sit in an emergency." The
judge said this babysitting request was outside of the normal
business hours and concluded that this instance was not within
the business pursuit provision because the Hz's were attending a
party, the babysitter had an emergency and had to leave and Mrs.
Boylan agreed to have Ryan babysit as a favor for the Hz's.
In Carroll v. Boyce,
272 N.J. Super. 384, 389 (App. Div.
1994), we concluded that a permanent babysitting job was a
"business pursuit" and the exception to the insurance exclusion
did not apply. In Carroll, it was undisputed that Mrs. Boyce was
compensated at the rate of $85 a week for about 5 months to care
for Gregory Carroll from 7:30 a.m to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday. Plaintiffs alleged that Gregory suffered serious
injuries from either negligent supervision or intentional
wrongdoing. The Boyce's homeowner's insurer denied coverage on
the grounds that the Boyces were engaged in a "business pursuit."
The Carrolls argued that even if the "business pursuit" exemption
applied, an exception to the exclusion relating to conduct
"ordinarily incidental to non-business pursuits" required
coverage. Id. at 386. We indicated that in order to determine
whether babysitting was encompassed within the business pursuits
exclusion, the court must consider (1) whether the pursuit
involves "continuity, or customary engagement [by the insured] in
the activity;" and (2) whether the activity involves a "profit
motive" or whether the insured engages in the pursuit "as a means
of livelihood, a means of earning a living, [or] procuring
subsistence or profit...." Ibid. (citations omitted).
We noted that "while babysitting on a single occasion, or
even occasionally, or without compensation generally does not
involve a business pursuit ... the compensation [in Carroll] was
such as to render the exclusion applicable." Id. at 387
(citations omitted). Since the babysitting arrangement was not
casual or temporary, the business pursuit exclusion applied.
Ibid. (citing Stanley v. American Fire & Cas. Co.,
361 So.2d 1030
(Ala. 1978)).
Carroll also held that the exception for "activity
ordinarily incident to non-business pursuits" did not apply. Id.
at 388 (citing New Jersey Property Liability Guaranty Ass'n v.
Brown,
174 N.J. Super. 629, 632, (App. Div.), certif. denied,
85 N.J. 462 (1980)). We concluded that the very purpose of
babysitting was to protect the child from harm and therefore a
babysitter's failure to do so could not be considered conduct
incident to non-business pursuits. Id. at 390.
In Stanley, supra (361 So.
2d at 1031), Mrs. Stanley cared
for eight different children, but no more than five at one time
in her home for several months. She received three dollars per
day per child as compensation. While Mrs. Stanley was in her
kitchen preparing lunch for herself, her children and the other
children, Alicia Schofield, just over one year old, fell on hot
coals in the Stanley fireplace. The homeowner's insurance policy
excluded injury arising out of "business pursuits" except
activities which were ordinarily incident to non-business
pursuits. Id. at 1032. The Alabama Supreme Court held that the
babysitting involved was a business pursuit because it was not
casual babysitting. It was not "a temporary arrangement for an
hour, a day or an evening, for the convenience of the parents."
Id. at 1033 (citing Crane v. State Farm Fire and Cas. Co.,
485 P.2d 1129 (Cal. 1971)). Nor did the injury in Stanley arise out
of an activity which was ordinarily incident to a non-business
pursuit. "The activity referred to is not preparing lunch, which
would ordinarily be incident to a non-business pursuit, but
rather to the failure to properly supervise a young child." Id.
at 1033. See also Camden Fire Ins. Ass'n v. Johnson,
294 S.E.2d 116 (W.Va. 1982); Nationwide Mutual Fire Ins. Co. v. Collins,
222 S.E.2d 828 (Ga. App. 1975).
Prudential asserts that many jurisdictions have found that
babysitting on an ongoing basis in one's home constitutes a
business pursuit. Rocky Mountain Cas. Co. v. St. Martin, 802 P.2d 144 (Wash. App. 1990) review denied 812 P.2d 102 (Wash. 1991) (insured provided child care for four children); Farmers Ins. Co. of Arizona v. Wiechneck, 801 P.2d 501 (Ariz. App. 1990) (insured operated babysitting service); Landis v. Allstate Ins. Co., 546 So.2d 1051 (Fla. 1989) (insured operated a licensed day care center); Safeco Ins. Co. v. Howard, 782 S.W.2d 658 (Mo. App. 1989) (insured operated babysitting service for ten years); Susnik v. Western Indem. Co. Ins., 795 P.2d 71 (Kan. App. 1989) (insured listed child care business on tax return); Heinson v. Porter, 772 P.2d 778 (Kan. 1989) (insured operated babysitting service); McCloskey v. Republic Ins. Co., 559 A.2d 385 (Md. App.) cert. denied 566 A.2d 101 (Md. 1989) (insured receiving $25 to $40 weekly per child for seven children); Moncivais v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co., 430 N.W.2d 438 (Iowa 1988) (insured provided child care services for seven children for fifteen years); Haley v. Allstate Ins. Co., 529 A.2d 394 (N.H. 1987) (insured was licensed day care provider and offered services eight hours per day, five days per week); Allstate Ins. Co. v. Kelsey, 678 P.2d 748 (Or. App.), review denied 683 P.2d 91 (Or. 1984) (insured advertised babysitting services and received compensation); Republic Ins. Co. v. Piper, 517 F. Supp. 1103 (D.Colo. 1981) (insured was licensed babysitter and claimed $777 in business expenses on tax return for babysitting services); American Family Ins. Co. v. Dewald, 597 F.2d 1148 (8th Cir. 1979) (insured paid $1 an hour to babysit and hours varied week by
week); Robinson v. Utica Mutual Ins. Co.,
585 S.W.2d 593 (Tenn.
1979) (insured charged $13 per week per child and advertised
child care services); Peterson v. Highland Ins. Co.,
328 So.2d 49
(Fla. App. 1976) (insured running a nursery or babysitting
service at time of injury).
However, in all of these cases it is clear that the
policyholder was operating a day care or babysitting service when
the child in the insured's care was injured. Here, the facts
indicate otherwise. Although the facts suggest that Mrs. Boylan
may well have been operating a babysitting service (as a
business) prior to June 1992, the particular request for
babysitting services in this instance did not arise in that
context.
Furthermore, the babysitting services Mrs. Boylan provided
on a regular basis for the Hz children were not of the same
nature as the night in dispute. On this particular evening, Mrs.
Boylan was not even at home when Mrs. Hz brought her children to
the Boylan home. In addition, there was no previously bargained-for fee, no pre-arrangements for pick up and the length of time
was only a couple of hours.
We affirm the motion judge's ruling that under the
circumstances Mrs. Boylan was not engaged in a "business pursuit"
at the time of the injury, and therefore, Prudential's homeowners
policy provides coverage to the parents for negligence based
claims.See footnote 4 While it may be that if Minnie Hz was injured while
Mrs. Boylan was watching her under the previous arrangement
between the Boylans and the Hz's, Prudential's policy would not
provide coverage, this particular incident arose separate from
that agreement. It is undisputed in the record that Mrs. Boylan
agreed to babysit for the Hz children as a last minute effort to
help out Mrs. Hz. As noted, there was no agreement for
compensation, and nothing in the record indicates that this "last
minute emergency" service was a customary service provided by
Mrs. Boylan. Carroll, supra (272 N.J. Super. at 386). This was
merely a temporary arrangement for the convenience of the
parents. Stanley, supra (361 So.
2d at 1033).
v. Saltman,
217 N.J. Super. 604, 610 (App. Div. 1987); N.J.
Manufacturers Ins. Co. v. Consolidated Mut. Ins. Co.,
124 N.J.
Super. 598, 602 (Law Div. 1973).
The judge entered an order on August 2, 1996 granting
counsel fees to the Boylans. A second order of even date granted
counsel fees to Ryan's attorneys. At oral argument it was stated
that there is no challenge as to amount of the fees ordered by
the Law Division. Prudential concedes its obligation to pay
counsel fees is contingent upon the determination of this appeal.
In light of our decision we uphold the award of counsel fees to
the parents, but reverse the order awarding counsel fees as to
Ryan.
Footnote: 1We have used fictitious names for the infant victim and her parents. Footnote: 2The appeal filed is only from one of two consolidated cases, i.e., the subsequently filed declaratory judgment action in connection with the underlying tort case. The declaratory judgment case brought by Prudential on September 7, 1995, was consolidated on January 2, 1996, with the underlying tort case filed on June 4, 1993. After orders were entered in the declaratory judgment action resolving the insurance issues at the trial level, Prudential filed a notice of appeal on June 27, 1996, captioned in both matters. Technically, the appeal was interlocutory without leave granted because the matters were never severed and the tort action was not yet resolved. The matter was not then final as to all parties and all issues. See R. 2:2-3(a)(1). We sua sponte grant leave to appeal in view of the elapsed time and in the interest of judicial economy, thus bypassing issues on the effect of the subsequent tort judgment. Footnote: 3Prior to trial the Hz's agreed to give up their right to recover against the Boylans if the Boylans would not defend their case and assigned their rights against Prudential to the Hz's. The matter was tried in September 1996 without a jury and resulted in a judgement in favor of the plaintiffs for $394,125.00 plus prejudgment interest. The case was apparently tried against Ryan's parents' on negligent supervision type claims. No percentage allocation of fault was made. No appeal was taken from the monetary judgment or the finding that the record supported negligence type claims against the parents. We recognize that further proceedings in the Law Division may be required on allocation of fault, if the parties do not come to some agreement. Footnote: 4No other challenge to insurance coverage was presented on this appeal.