Tortious Interference Requires Intent to Harm
Defamation is a Covered Personal Injury Tortious Interference with Business Is Not
Post 5031
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Robert Hole, M.D., appealed from the March 3, 2023 order granting plaintiff State Farm Fire and Casualty Company’s motion for summary judgment denying Dr. Hole co ...
In State Farm Fire And Casualty Company v. Dr. Robert Hole, M.D., and Dr. Michael Russonella, D.O., and North Jersey Orthopaedic And Sports Medicine Institute, LLC, No. A-2522-22, Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division (March 21, 2025) a lawsuit filed against Dr. Hole by Michael Russonella, D.O. that alleged Dr. Hole made false statements regarding Dr. Russonella’s alleged misconduct at St. Mary’s Hospital in Passaic.
Dr. Hole sought coverage from his insurer, State Farm, to defend the action. The central question in this matter is whether State Farm was required to defend the action and indemnify Dr. Hole once the tortious interference count was the only remaining claim.
Initially Dr. Russonella sued Dr. Hole only alleging defamation. State Farm defended Dr. Hole under a reservation of rights. Because of the potential for an excess verdict and the punitive damages alleged, the letter also advised Dr. Hole of his right to obtain personal counsel and that State Farm’s “defense of this action by the attorney on your behalf is not to be considered a waiver of such policy defense or of any policy defenses which may be involved in this suit.”
In September 2017, the trial court dismissed Dr. Russonella’s defamation complaint as untimely under the statute of limitations. Dr. Russonella subsequently filed an amended complaint alleging tortious interference with business.
State Farm sued seeking declaratory relief claiming it had no duty to defend or indemnify Dr. Hole regarding the claims asserted by Dr. Russonella. It asserted Dr. Russonella alleged Dr. Hole “intentionally “interfered with his business relationships. State Farm further asserted that in allegedly making “untrue” and “malicious[]” statements “targeted to injure Dr…. Russonella” that Dr. Hole knew were “untrue,” “the policy exclusion for personal and advertising injury arising out of oral or written publication of material . . . with knowledge of its falsity precludes coverage.”
When the facts present a single, unavoidable resolution and the evidence is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law, then a trial court should grant summary judgment. Dr. Hole argued a tortious interference claim “does not require an intention to cause the injury alleged.” Rather, he asserts “the intent required in tortious interference claims is an intent to interfere.”
ANALYSIS
The interpretation of an insurance policy, like any contract, is a question of law.
Coverage provisions are to be read broadly, exclusions are to be read narrowly, potential ambiguities must be resolved in favor of the insured, and the policy is to be read in a manner that fulfills the insured’s reasonable expectations. By contrast, if the plain language of the policy is unambiguous, the court will not engage in a strained construction to support the imposition of liability or write a better policy for the insured than the one purchased.
A complaint based on tortious interference must allege facts claiming that the interference was done intentionally and with “malice”. Malice is defined to mean that the harm was inflicted intentionally and without justification or excuse.
A tortious interference cause of action is an excluded claim because not only does the tort require intentional interference, it also further requires malice or an intent that the harm was inflicted intentionally. That is, the tortious interference claim intrinsically includes an intent to harm.
The Appellate Division concluded that trial court did not err in concluding Dr. Hole was not entitled to coverage under the State Farm policy.
Even though State Farm initially provided a defense for the defamation claim, it was not required to also defend Dr. Hole because the amended complaint for tortious interference alleged similar facts but supported intentional conduct.
ZALMA OPINION
Liability insurance provides defense and/or indemnity only for fortuitous conduct. Intentional acts are excluded by every liability insurance policy since providing such coverage would encourage wrongful or illegal conduct. The court concluded, properly, that although the defamation claim was a fortuitous loss the tortious interference claim required intentional conduct, was not fortuitous, and State Farm was entitled to a judgment it owed no defense or indemnity to Dr. Hole after it successfully protected him from the Defamation claim.
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If Pleadings and Policy Wording Established Claim Was Excluded is Sufficient to Reject Claim in Texas
Post 5032
Title Defects Assumed by the Insured Excluded
Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/title-insurer-properly-denied-claim-barry-zalma-esq-cfe-m4uxc, see the full video at and at and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5000 posts.
In 2017 Yale Street Development LLC v. First National Title Insurance Company, No. 14-23-00688-CV, Court of Appeals of Texas, Fourteenth District (March 13, 2025) the court was faced with a denied title insurance claim related to a failed construction development project in Houston.
BACKGROUND:
In 2015, Terry Fisher created 829 Yale St. LLC to construct a mid-rise condominium development at 829 Yale Street in Houston. Fisher obtained loans from Steadfast Funding and D&A Alvarez Group to complete the project. 829 Yale conveyed its title to Jetall Companies, Inc. to...
Lawyer Convicted of Workers’ Compensation Fraud
Post 5031
Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/guilty-paying-kickbacks-cappers-defraud-insurers-zalma-esq-cfe-9uybc, see the full video at https://rumble.com/v6r8bl0-guilty-paying-kickbacks-and-cappers-to-defraud-insurers.html and at https://youtu.be/ZXEaXW1pGZs and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5000 posts.
In The People v. Jon Woods, G061948, California Court of Appeals, Fourth District, Third Division (March 18, 2025) a jury convicted Jon Woods of 37 felony counts of workers’ compensation fraud.
Woods was a worker’s compensation attorney who had made business arrangements that involved unlawful kickback and referral fees.
Woods contended that the Williamson rule (In re Williamson (1954) 43 Cal.2d 651, 276 P.2d 593) precluded convictions on counts 5 through 37. The Williamson rule states that where the Legislature has defined a specific crime with a lesser punishment, the conduct described by that crime may not be charged as a more general ...
ACV, by Definition, Requires Depreciation from Replacement Cost
Post 5027
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This case is a putative class action concerning a commercial property insurance policy. Schoening Investment, LP alleges that The Cincinnati Casualty Company breached its insurance policy by undervaluing an actual cash value (ACV) payment for a covered partial structural loss to one of its properties in Schoening Investment, LP v. The Cincinnati Casualty Company, No. 1:24-cv-137, United States District Court, S.D. Ohio, Western Division (March 13, 2025)
Key Allegations:
Schoening contended that the policy does not allow Cincinnati Casualty to deduct any amount for depreciation from the ACV payments due for partial structural losses. Schoening specifically challenged whether the insurer is entitled to deduct depreciation from such payments at all.
Legal Standard:
This putative class action concerned a commercial...
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Duties and Liabilities of Insurance Brokers
Posted on March 12, 2025 by Barry Zalma
Excellence in Claims Handling
This blog post is just a taste of the full article that is only available to subscribers to Excellence in Claims Handling. Anyone can subscribe to “Excellence in Claims Handling” at https://barryzalma.substack.com/subscribe for only $5 a month or $50 a year.
Cases in which insurance brokers’ liability is in question depend in part on whether brokers are seen to be serving a fiduciary role or simply acting as a conduit between the insured and the insurer.
A person or an entity is a fiduciary with respect to a plan to the extent:
he exercises any discretionary authority or discretionary control respecting management of such plan ...
Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/duties-liabilities-insurance-brokers-barry-zalma-esq-cfe-mmpbc, if you Subscribe to “Excellence in Claims Handling” at https://barryzalma.substack.com/subscribe for only $5 a month or $50 a year.
Duties and Liabilities of Insurance Brokers
Posted on March 12, 2025 by Barry Zalma
Excellence in Claims Handling
This blog post is just a taste of the full article that is only available to subscribers to Excellence in Claims Handling. Anyone can subscribe to “Excellence in Claims Handling” at https://barryzalma.substack.com/subscribe for only $5 a month or $50 a year.
Cases in which insurance brokers’ liability is in question depend in part on whether brokers are seen to be serving a fiduciary role or simply acting as a conduit between the insured and the insurer.
A person or an entity is a fiduciary with respect to a plan to the extent:
he exercises any discretionary authority or discretionary control respecting management of such plan ...
The Basics Needed by a Liability Adjuster
Post 5003
Posted on February 25, 2025 by Barry Zalma
See the full video at and at
Adjusting liability insurance claims requires skill, patience, knowledge of insurance, basic knowledge of tort and contract law, and knowledge and experience as an investigator. The liability claims adjuster is faced with the following basic obligations:
- To understand the law of torts as applied in the state where the adjuster works.
- To understand the law of contracts as applied in the state where the adjuster works.
- To understand sufficient medical terminology to be able to evaluate claims of injury.
- To understand the costs to repair or replace damaged real or personal property.
- To understand how to read and apply the terms and conditions of a liability insurance policy.
- To understand how to thoroughly investigate all claims assigned.
- To conduct an investigation of every claim ...
