The outpouring of tributes to Muhammad Ali, after his death earlier this month, were overwhelming. Stories about Ali in the ring, out of the ring and his influence on sports and society, were everywhere. But this wasn’t surprising. This was the death of someone known the world over as the Greatest and at times the most famous person on the planet. But despite all the ink spilled in remembrances to The People’s Champion, none that I saw mentioned his cameo in an insurance coverage decision. This is why you read Coverage Opinions – to learn the things that Time magazine leaves out.
In Rack N Cue Billiards, Inc. v. Burlington Insurance Company, No. G046058 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 30, 2013), the court addressed coverage for a pool hall, in Stanton, California, for claims by a patron injured when two other patrons got into a fight. Specifically, one of the combatants shoved another into a third person, causing him to crash into a plate glass window, which shattered and resulted in injury.
Among other coverage issues arising out of the ensuing personal injury litigation, the pool hall argued that its insurer’s assault and battery exclusion did not apply because the fight was a consensual boxing match. The court wasn’t buying it: “Rack and cue offers no cases holding the assault and battery exclusion inapplicable to mutual combat. And we disagree with its assertion that a reasonable policy holder would equate brawling patrons with boxing legends Muhammad Ali and Joe Frasier (sic). A bar fight in Stanton is not exactly the Thrilla in Manila.”
[Editor’s note: It’s Joe Frazier, with a z. Frasier, with an s, is Dr. Frasier Crane, Kelsey Grammer’s fictional character in Cheers and Frasier.] |