10th Circuit revives Mormon Church’s fight with insurers over sex abuse settlements

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints wants insurance to pay for civil settlements related to sexual abuses committed by the son of a prominent church family.(CN) — A 10th Circuit panel on Tuesday sided with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in its bid to seek reimbursement from two insurance companies for its costs defending and settling lawsuits by victims of sexual abuse in West Virginia.The three-judge panel reversed a trial judge in Salt Lake City who last year had granted summary judgment to National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh and ACE Property and Casualty Insurance Co.While the trial judge had agreed with the insurers that the settlements with the victims of the scion of a prominent church family were separate occurrences under their policies and that none of the settlements were large enough by themselves to trigger coverage, the appellate panel found that the policies were ambiguous as to what counts as an “occurrence.”It determined that under Utah law, the church can pursue coverage.The church maintains that its purported failure to take reasonable precautions between 2007 and 2011 that could have prevented Michael Jensen’s sexual abuse of his victims should be construed as one occurrence. The total amount of the settlements was large enough under the policies for the church to seek reimbursement.“We need not hold that the church’s interpretation is the most reasonable or most plausible interpretation,” U.S. Circuit Judge Gregory Phillips wrote in the unanimous decision. “And we don’t. 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.”The judge, a Barack Obama appointee, noted that courts have taken different positions on the question whether negligence claims in sexual abuse cases are to be considered separate occurrences or one single occurrence.“These conflicting approaches reinforce our conclusion that the policies are ambiguous,” Phillips said. “Under Utah law, the court’s role is to ask if the insured’s interpretation is plausible, not to harmonize policy interpretation across jurisdictions.”The case dates back to a series of abuses by Jensen, a teenager at the time, whose victims say the church failed to protect them throughout the 2000s. Jensen was sentenced to 35-75 years in prison in 2013.The church reached a settlement with the victims and their families in 2018.Jensen, whose parents and grandfather were prominent church members, had first been prosecuted in 2004, when he was 13 and living in Provo, Utah, on charges he had groped two classmates. He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors, and his family soon after moved to West Virginia.His mother became the president of the local church’s women’s organization, and she offered Jensen as a babysitter to other church families.While babysitting and during other stays with church families between 2007 and 2011, Jensen sexually abused several children. He was convicted of sexual assault and sexual abuse in 2013.The 10th Circuit panel also included U.S. Circuit Judge Nancy Moritz, a Barack Obama appointee, and U.S. District Judge Matthew Garcia, a Joe Biden appointee of the District of New Mexico, who sat by designation.They sent the case back to the trial judge in Salt Lake City for further proceeding and didn’t address the insurance companies’ other arguments why they shouldn’t have to cover the church’s legal costs because the trial judge hadn’t ruled on those yet.Attorneys for the church and the insurers didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.Categories / Appeals, ReligionSubscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads