National Union Fire Insurance v. Lynette C.

This is our second encounter with this case, the first of which also resulted in a published decision—National Union Fire Ins. Co. v. Lynette C. (1991) 228 Cal.App.3d 1073 [ 279 Cal.Rptr. 394 ] (National Union I). The subject is insurance coverage for a foster parent who negligently fails to protect his or her foster child from sexual molestation by the other foster parent. In National Union /, we reversed a summary judgment in favor of National Union Fire Insurance Company (National), concluding that the language of the relevant insurance policy provided such coverage and the principles of public policy did not prohibit it. We remanded the matter to the trial court to determine another issue raised in the summary judgment proceedings, the amount of coverage.

On remand, the amount of coverage was determined in summary adjudication proceedings, and other pertinent issues were decided in a court trial. The most pertinent of these other issues concerned whether National was bound by the judgment that the foster child (Lynette) had obtained against National’s insured, the negligent foster mother Debra Lopes (Debra).

On appeal, National contends that Lynette’s judgment…