Coit Drapery Cleaners, Inc. v. Sequoia Insurance
Opinion
Opinion
Peterson, J.
The trial court ruled that appellants could not shift to an insurer the costs of defending and settling a claim for sexual harassment, since the incidents of sexual harassment in issue here constituted intentional acts, for which coverage would be barred by language in the policy and by Insurance Code section 533. We agree with this conclusion and affirm.
1. Facts and Procedural History
We summarize the claims and evidence before the trial court as follows.
A. Sexual Harassment
During 1987, Linda J. Seaborn, who was about 28 at the time, interviewed for a telephone dispatcher and management trainee position at Coit Drapery Cleaners, Inc. She was interviewed by Dr. Louis J. Kearn, who had founded the company more than 40 years ago and was its president, a major stockholder, and chairman of the board of directors.
Kearn relished his reputation around the company as “a dirty old man.” The evidence disclosed Kearn had a long history of sexually harassing young women employees, which was “common knowledge” at Coit. “[A]ny female employee who wanted to remain in Coit’s employment, and particularly if she wanted to advance, . . . had to make herself available in some way to…