Combs

Plaintiff Jack Combs appeals from an adverse summary judgment rejecting his claim against State Farm Fire and Casualty Company and State Farm General Insurance Company 1 (collectively, State Farm) for its refusal to reimburse him for the attorney fees he was ordered to pay the *1341 prevailing party in an earlier action against him for housing discrimination. Combs does not dispute that Insurance Code section 533 (section 533) prohibits State Farm from indemnifying him for the compensatory and punitive damages for which he was held liable in the discrimination suit. However, he disputes the trial court’s ruling that section 533 also precludes reimbursement of the plaintiff’s attorney fees for which he was held liable, that were covered by a supplementary payments provision of his insurance policy. We shall affirm.

Background

State Farm provided Combs with a defense, under a reservation of rights, to a complaint filed in federal district court by Fair Housing of Marin (FHOM) charging Combs with racial discrimination in the management of a San Rafael apartment complex, in violation of federal and state law. 2 In March 1999, the district court entered an order striking…