Insurance Law: No Duty to Indemnify Owner/Employee for Assault on Motorist

We represented an insurer before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court sitting as the Law Court in an insurance coverage matter in which an owner and employee of a partnership sought indemnification for injuries he caused in an apparent road rage incident. While stopped at a traffic light on the way home from a camping trip with his son (though he claimed that he was on his way to the business), the owner/employee exited his truck, struck the victim repeatedly in his head and chest, told the victim that his driving was endangering other drivers, and informed the victim that the owner/employee was taking it upon himself to set the victim straight. The Law Court determined that even if the owner/employee was on his way to the business at the time of the incident, the assault was not “with respect to the conduct” of the business and not “within the scope of [his] employment.” As such, the owner/employee was not entitled to indemnification under the policy because he did not fall within the policy’s definition of insured at the time of the incident. Travelers Indem. Co. v. Bryant, 2012 ME 38