Insurance Claim – Coverage

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WI Court of Appeals – District III

Case Name: Lindsey Dostal v. Curtis Strand, et al.,

Case No.: 2020AP1943

Officials: Stark, P.J., Hruz and Gill, JJ.

Focus: Insurance Claim – Coverage

Lindsey Dostal (hereinafter, “Dostal”) appeals a circuit court’s grant of summary and declaratory judgment to State Farm Fire and Casualty Company (hereinafter, “State Farm”). The court concluded that State Farm did not provide coverage under Curtis Strand’s homeowner’s insurance policy (hereinafter, “the Policy”) for Dostal’s claims against Strand resulting from the death of Dostal and Strand’s infant daughter, Haeven Dostal (hereinafter, “Haeven”) while she was in Strand’s care. The court determined Haeven’s death was not the result of an occurrence, which is defined in the Policy as “an accident, including exposure to conditions” that results in bodily injury or property damage during the policy period. In particular, the court concluded that Strand’s criminal conviction of second-degree reckless homicide for causing Haeven’s death precluded Dostal’s claim that Strand’s actions were accidental because criminal recklessness requires more than accidental conduct. It reached this conclusion because, to find Strand guilty of that crime, the jury had to find that Strand created an unreasonable and substantial risk of great bodily harm to Haeven and that he acted with awareness of that risk.

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Derek A Hawkins is Corporate Counsel, at Salesforce.