O'Connell

*178 MEMORANDUM *

Rose O’Connell appeals a summary-judgment in favor of J.C. Penney Insurance Company on her claims of breach of contract and bad faith denial of benefits under an insurance contract. We review the district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo, see Buono v. Norton, 371 F.3d 543, 545 (9th Cir.2004), and reverse.

Mrs. O’Connell filed a claim for benefits under an accidental death and disability policy issued by J.C. Penney on her husband Richard O’Connell, who died while hospitalized for a broken hip he sustained when he fell while exiting a bus. The immediate cause of Mr. O’Connell’s death was pneumonia, which developed during the hospitalization. J.C. Penney denied the request for policy benefits, stating that the policy provided coverage only where the insured’s death resulted “solely and independently” from accident or injury, and not where a pre-existing disease contributes to the insured’s death. J.C. Penney took the position that Mr. O’Connell’s pre-existing Parkinson’s disease was a contributing cause of death.

Arizona courts strictly construe policy provisions which provide benefits, as here, only where death or disability is “solely and…

dissenting.

Because there is no evidence in the record suggesting that Richard O’Connell’s death was caused “directly and independently” by his fall and resultant hip fracture, the district court properly granted *179 summary judgment to J.C. Penney Life Insurance Co. The court sees the matter differently, however, and I therefore respectfully dissent.

I

Although the majority correctly invokes the legal framework set forth in New York Life Insurance Co. v. Greber, 55 Ariz. 261 , 100 P.2d 987, 987 (1940) (“Greber /”), its application of that standard to the factual record before us is flawed. In Greber , the insured, who suffered from bronchial asthma and myocarditis, was involved in a car accident, which triggered the onset of pneumonia and eventual death. Id. at 988. The insurance policy provided for a double indemnity where the insured’s death “resulted directly and independently of all other causes from bodily injury effected solely through external, violent and accidental cause.” Id. at 987. The insurance company refused to pay this double indemnity on the ground that the insured’s death was at least partially attributable to his preexisting asthma and myocarditis. Id. at…