A 10th Circuit panel on Tuesday revived the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ effort to obtain reimbursement from two insurers for defending and settling civil claims brought by victims of sexual abuse in West Virginia.
The three-judge panel reversed a Salt Lake City trial court’s 2023 summary judgment in favor of National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh and ACE Property and Casualty Insurance Co., concluding that the insurance policies are ambiguous about what constitutes an “occurrence.”
The district court had agreed with the insurers that settlements arising from abuse by Michael Jensen, a member of a prominent church family, were separate occurrences and that none individually met the policies’ attachment points. The appellate panel found the term “occurrence” could plausibly be read to treat the church’s alleged negligence over several years as a single occurrence, which would allow the church to seek coverage under Utah law.
“We need not hold that the church’s interpretation is the most reasonable or most plausible,” U.S. Circuit Judge Gregory Phillips wrote for the unanimous court. “We hold only that it is plausible. And because it is plausible, and the district court’s interpretation is also plausible, the provisions are ambiguous under Utah law.”
Phillips, an appointee of President Barack Obama, noted that courts differ on whether negligence claims tied to serial sexual abuse should be treated as multiple occurrences or a single occurrence, reinforcing the conclusion that the policies are ambiguous. Under Utah law, ambiguity is resolved in favor of allowing the insured’s plausible interpretation to proceed.
10th Circuit panel finds ambiguity over “occurrence”
The case stems from abuse committed by Jensen between 2007 and 2011 while he was a teenager. Victims alleged the church failed to protect them during that period.
Jensen was sentenced in 2013 to 35 to 75 years in prison and the church reached a settlement with victims and their families in 2018. The church argues its alleged failure to take reasonable precautions across those years should be treated as one occurrence under the policies, making the aggregate settlements large enough to trigger coverage.
The panel, which also included U.S. Circuit Judge Nancy Moritz, an Obama appointee, and U.S. District Judge Matthew Garcia of the District of New Mexico, a Biden appointee sitting by designation, sent the case back to the trial court for further proceedings.
The judges did not reach the insurers’ remaining defenses, which had not been addressed below. The dispute adds to a growing body of appellate decisions examining how liability insurance policies apply to institutional responses to long-running abuse claims, alongside cases such as Louisiana v. Callais.
Attorneys for the church and the insurers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.