Ananda Church of Self-Realization v. Massachusetts Bay Insurance

Plaintiff Ananda Church of Self-Realization (Ananda) appeals from a judgment after the trial court sustained, without leave to amend, a demurrer to its complaint against Massachusetts Bay Insurance Company (Mass Bay) alleging breach of Mass Bay’s obligations to defend and indemnify Ananda against two lawsuits.

At issue is whether a lawsuit by a claimant against an insured, arising out of the alleged wrongful taking of documents from the trash can of the claimant’s attorney, raised a potential claim for “property damage” under Mass Bay’s general liability policy.

We conclude there was no potential coverage under the applicable policy provision and affirm the judgment.

Background

Since this case was disposed of by demurrer, we accept as true all well-pleaded material facts in the complaint. (Hensler v. City of Glendale (1994) 8 Cal.4th 1, 8, fn. 3 [ 32 Cal.Rptr.2d 244 , 876 P.2d 1043 ]; Serrano v. Priest (1971) 5 Cal.3d 584, 591 [ 96 Cal.Rptr. 601 , 487 P.2d 1241 , 41 A.L.R.3d 1187 ].) We exercise our independent judgment in reviewing a demurrer to determine whether the factual allegations of the complaint state a cause of action. (Schmidt v. Foundation Health (1995) 35…