ORDER RE: MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION

I. History

Plaintiff Maryland Casualty Company (“Plaintiff’) issued a commercial general liability policy (“Policy”) to Olga and Hector Gonzalez, doing business as G & Co (“Employers”). 1 The Policy had an auto exclusion provision which reads “This insurance does not apply to.... ‘Bodily injury’ or ‘property damage’ arising out of the ownership, maintenance, use or entrustment to others of any aircraft, ‘auto’ or watercraft owned or operated by or rented or loaned to any insured.” Doc. 22, Policy, at 20 of 49. The Employers have a sepa *1146 rate auto insurance policy provided by a third party. The Employers were in the business of selling vacuum cleaners directly to consumers by sending sales teams door-to-door. One of the Employers’ sales representatives was Gabriel Pascual (“Pascual”), hired in October 2008. On April 27, 2009, Pascual was driving fellow sales representatives Kyle Hoetsier, Daniel Reyna, and Emmerson Valdivieso (“Passengers”) in an Employers-owned van, returning to headquarters from a vacuum cleaner sales demonstration. The van was involved in a collision with another automobile. It is alleged that at the time of the accident, Pascual was under the influence of alcohol and driving on a suspended license. It is further alleged that Pascual had a history of driving under the influence.

In Fresno County Superior Court, the Passengers filed suit against the Employers and Pascual, based on claims of negligence, negligent hiring, negligent entrustment, and negligent maintenance. The Employers’ auto insurance company is currently providing a defense in that state court case. In this case, Plaintiff filed suit against Employers, Pascual, and Passengers seeking a declaration that it does not have the duty to either indemnify or defend Employers and Pascual based on the auto exclusion provision of the Policy. Doc. 7. Plaintiff moved for summary judgment. Doc. 45. The Passengers opposed the motion. Doc. 50. The hearing on the motion was held on June 6, 2011. On August 19, 2011, Judge Oliver Wanger issued an Order denying summary judgment as to the Employers, Pascual, and the Passengers, while granting the motion as to G & Company, Inc. Doc. 66. Judge Wanger retired from the bench and the case was reassigned. Doc. 70. Plaintiff now moves for reconsideration based on new legal precedent. Doc. 75. The Passengers oppose the motion. Doc. 81. The matter was taken under submission without oral argument.

II. Legal Standards

“Reconsideration is appropriate if the district court (1) is presented with newly discovered evidence, (2) committed clear error or the initial decision was manifestly unjust, or (3) if there is an intervening change in controlling law. There may also be other, highly unusual, circumstances warranting reconsideration.” School Dist. No. 1J Multnomah County v. ACandS, Inc., 5 F.3d 1255 , 1263 (9th Cir. 1993), citations omitted.

III. Discussion

Plaintiff has pointed to two recent opinions (which were issued after oral argument in the underlying summary judgment motion), arguing that they shed new light on the relevant law in this case. In the earlier Order, this court examined the case law concerning concurrent cause doctrine, focusing in particular on four California Appeals Court decisions that dealt with negligent hiring.

The California Supreme Court established the concurrent cause doctrine in State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Partridge, 10 Cal.3d 94 , 109 Cal.Rptr. 811 , 514 P.2d 123 (Cal.1973). In that case, the insurer issued a homeowner’s policy included a comprehensive personal liability provision which excluded “bodily injury ... arising out of the ... use of ... any motor vehicle.” State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Partridge, 10 Cal.3d 94, 98 , 109 Cal.Rptr. 811 , 514 P.2d 123 (Cal.1973). The insured modified the trigger of a gun to increase its sensitivity. The insured carried the gun with him while he was driving his car. The car hit a bump and the gun went off, hitting a passenger. The California Supreme Court found

State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Partridge, 10 Cal.3d 94, 102-103 , 109 Cal.Rptr. 811 , 514 P.2d 123 (Cal.1973).

The Second District Court of Appeal dealt with concurrent cause doctrine in the context of negligent hiring in Underwriters Ins. Co. v. Purdie, 145 Cal.App.3d 57 , 193 Cal.Rptr. 248 (Cal.App.2d Dist.1983). The insurer issued a multiperil liability policy with an exclusion for “any use maintenance or possession of a fire arm by insured or its agent or employee.” Underwriters Ins. Co. v. Purdie, 145 Cal.App.3d 57, 61 , 193 Cal.Rptr. 248 (Cal.App.2d Dist. 1983). The insured knowingly hired a store clerk with some kind of violent history. WTiile acting in the scope of his employment, that employee got into an argument and shot a supplier. The Second District Court of Appeal concluded:

Underwriters Ins. Co. v. Purdie, 145 Cal.App.3d 57 , 67 and 70-71, 193 Cal.Rptr. 248 (Cal.App.2d Dist.1983). Thus, Purdie suggests that negligent hiring is the sort of tort that is sufficiently unconnected to the use of a firearm or automobile to constitute a concurrent independent cause of injury; exclusion clauses based on those instrumentalities will not defeat insurance coverage for negligent hiring claims.

After Purdie , three California Appellate Court decisions have come to the opposite conclusion regarding negligent hiring/retention as a concurrent independent cause. In the first, the insurer offered a commercial insurance policy with the exclusion that “This policy does not cover the liability of the Insured: ... (b) Caused by or resulting from misappropriation, secretion, conversion, infidelity or any dishonest or criminal act on the part of the Insured or other party of interest, his or their employees or agents or any person or persons to whom the property may be entrusted by the Insured.” Atlas Assurance Co. v. McCombs Corp., 146 Cal.App.3d 135, 142 , 194 Cal.Rptr. 66 (Cal.App.3d Dist.1983). When faced with litigation arising out of employee theft, the court found the exclusion applied:

Atlas Assurance Co. v. McCombs Corp., 146 Cal.App.3d 135, 147-48 , 194 Cal.Rptr. 66 (Cal.App.3d Dist.1983).

In the second, the insurer offered a general liability policy with the exclusion “No coverage shall apply under this policy for any claim, demand or suit based on assault and battery and assault shall not be deemed an accident, whether or not committed by or at the direction of the insured.” Cen tury Transit Systems, Inc. v. American Empire Surplus Lines Ins. Co., 42 Cal.App.4th 121, 124 , 49 Cal.Rptr.2d 567 (Cal.App.2d Dist.1996). An employee committed an assault while in the course of his employment; the employer had notice of a violent incident earlier that same day but took no action. Crucially, the Second District Court of Appeal rejected its earlier Purdie opinion:

Century Transit Systems, Inc. v. American Empire Surplus Lines Ins. Co., 42 Cal.App.4th 121 , 128 n. 6, 49 Cal.Rptr.2d 567 (Cal.App.2d Dist.1996), emphasis added.

In the third, the insurer offered a general commercial liability policy with an exclu *1150 sion for “sexual harassment ... which results in alleged or actual ... bodily injury ... or any other damages allegedly suffered by an employee.” Low v. Golden Eagle Ins. Co., 2002 WL 386415 , *3, 2002 Cal.App. Unpub. LEXIS 3202, *8 (Cal.App. 1st Dist. Mar. 12, 2002). An employee with a history of sexual misconduct sexually harassed and assaulted co-workers. When the insurer refused to defend the employer, the court concluded:

Low v. Golden Eagle Ins. Co., 2002 WL 386415 , *4 n. 5, 2002 Cal.App. Unpub. LEXIS 3202, *11-13 n. 5 (Cal.App. 1st Dist. Mar. 12, 2002), citations omitted.

The prior Order stated, “Although no published opinion has expressly followed Purdie to date, Purdie has not been overruled and remains persuasive authority.” Doc. 66, at 20:22-24. The Order set forth the following rationale for reconciling Purdie with the later cases: “Notwithstanding the criticism of Purdie set forth in Century Transit and Golden Eagle, the results reached in Century Transit and Golden Eagle are in fact consistent [with] Purdie’s outcome. In Century Transit and Golden Eagle, negligent hiring was a potential concurrent cause of the harm complained of as a matter of tort liability, but in both cases it was impossible for negligent hiring to be a concurrent cause independent of *1151 risks expressly excluded by the subject policies.” Doc. 66, Order, at 19:2-9. Specifically, the Order followed Purdie by stating that “The criticism of Purdie advanced in Century Transit and adopted in Golden Eagle appears to be based on the erroneous premise that negligent hiring is only a theory of third-party liability, as opposed to an independent negligent act rendering an employer directly liable.” Doc. 66, Order, at 16:24-28.

This method of distinguishing Century Transit and Golden Eagle can be rethought in light of the recent California Supreme Court decision of Diaz v. Carcamo, 51 Cal.4th 1148 , 126 Cal.Rptr.3d 443 , 253 P.3d 535 (Cal.2011). Diaz does not deal with concurrent cause doctrine but has language that touches upon the relationship between negligent hiring and vicarious liability: “No matter how negligent an employer was in entrusting a vehicle to an employee, however, it is only if the employee then drove negligently that the employer can be liable for negligent entrustment, hiring, or retention.” Diaz v. Carcamo, 51 Cal.4th 1148, 1159 , 126 Cal.Rptr.3d 443 , 253 P.3d 535 (Cal.2011). The prior Order acknowledged that the basis for following Purdie was tenuous given the fact that no court case had followed Purdie on the relevant point while some had criticized it. The latest California Supreme Court decision does not address the issue, but is occasion for the court to pause and reexamine Purdie with a skeptical eye.

On balance, this court must conclude that Purdie’s reasoning with respect to negligent hiring and concurrent cause doctrine is not convincing. In light of Diaz, the analysis contained in Century Transit and Golden Eagle is more persuasive and sets clearer, more straightforward rules to govern the parties in the insurance context. Golden Eagle sets out a good guide for what should and should not be excluded: “ Purdie improperly applied the holding in State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Partridge, which involved two independent negligent acts, one of which was unrelated to excluded conduct, and each of which contributed to a covered harm. ([negligent driving on rough road and negligent alteration of gun by filing trigger].) In contrast, when both negligent acts are related to excluded conduct, there is no coverage. (Safeco Ins. Co. v. Gilstrap (1983)) 141 Cal.App.3d 524, 527-528 , 190 Cal.Rptr. 425 [negligent entrustment of vehicle to minor son not independent of excluded use of vehicle.]” Low v. Golden Eagle Ins. Co., 2002 WL 386415 , *4 n. 5, 2002 Cal.App. Unpub. LEXIS 3202, *12 n. 5 (Cal.App. 1st Dist. Mar. 12, 2002), citations omitted. This analysis looks at the plain language of the exclusion. When the second negligent act is related to the excluded conduct, it does not constitute a concurrent independent cause. In Partridge , the second negligent act (modifying a gun in an unsafe manner) was totally unrelated to cars and driving. Conceptually, it was not the kind of risk that the insurance policy language was seeking to exclude. In contrast, hiring an individual with a known history of drunk driving and asking him to drive as part of the job straightforwardly relates to an auto exclusion. Indeed, the accident that resulted in this case appears to be the exact sort of incident the exclusion language was designed to exclude in the first place. A rule that applies the exclusion in a direct manner provides certainty for the parties, which is a critical concern in insurance cases.

This focus on the plain language and a straightforward application of the relevant exclusion comports with the Ninth Circuit case law on concurrent cause doctrine. In a recent Ninth Circuit case (which did not deal with negligent hiring), the relevant exclusion read “shall not be liable for Loss on account of any Claim made against any Insured based upon, arising out of, or attributable to the sale, attempted sale or *1152 servicing of commodities, commodity future contracts, or any type of option contract or derivative.” Central District of California Case No. 07-CV-1095, Docket Ño. 81-2, First Amended Complaint, at 38:20-23. The court held that

Illinois Union Ins. Co. v. Brookstreet Secs. Corp., 444 Fed.Appx. 194, 196 (9th Cir. 2011). 2 This recent opinion’s focus on the nature of the injuries echoes an earlier Ninth Circuit case which similarly declined to find concurrent independent causation given the facts of the case: “the heirs’ claims for both wrongful death and civil rights violations directly arose from categories of injuries [bodily injury ... death of any person] specifically excluded under the policy.” Continental Casualty Co. v. Richmond, 763 F.2d 1076, 1082 (9th Cir. 1985). These cases focused on the nature of the exclusion and applied it straightforwardly.

Partridge can be understood to have found concurrent independent causation because the injury in that case was a gunshot wound which does not fit within the basic purpose of an auto exclusion. In this case, the injuries suffered are from an auto accident in which an employee was driving; they clearly fall under the relevant exclusion. Negligent hiring does not constitute a concurrent independent cause in this case. Pascual Ñas driving an Employers-owned vehicle at the time of the accident. Thus, the incident falls under the auto exclusion provision of the Policy.

IV. Order

Plaintiff Maryland Casualty’s motion for reconsideration is GRANTED. Summary judgment is GRANTED to Maryland Casualty as to all Defendants. Maryland Casualty is directed to file a proposed order of judgment.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

. Another entity, G & Company Inc., appears to be a separate business formed by Olga and Hector Gonzalez. It was named as a defendant in this case; the prior Order found that summary judgment in favor of Plaintiff against this defendant was appropriate. Doc. 66, August 19, 2011 Order, 2011 WL 3665005 . How this entity is related to the other parties in this case remains unclear.

. Defendants object to reliance on Illinois Union, on the basis that it "is an unpublished opinion and thus cannot serve as precedent unless it is relevant under the doctrine of law of the case or rules of issue/claim preclusion. U.S.Ct. of App. 9th Cir. Rule 36-3(a).’’ Doc. 81, Opposition, at 11:23-26. While it is not binding precedent, the opinion is still valuable as persuasive authority.