District files suit against its insurance company
Schools seeking policy clarification that led to end of mediation talks
“We hope resolving this matter will also enable the district to resolve the lawsuits in the near future ...”
— Erin Reis, Oxford Board of Education president
The Oxford school district is suing its insurance company over potential payouts for injuries claimed among nine lawsuits stemming from the November 2021 shooting at the high school.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Oakland County Circuit Court, seeks an order from the court to allow the district to offer $5 million per injury claim instead of that from its insurer, MASBSEG Property/Casualty Pool, Inc. The company says the shooting itself was a single event which should result in a single payout limited to $5 million.
Oxford’s insurance policy provides $1 million “per occurrence in general liability” and $4 million “per occurrence in excess liability.”
According to court documents, MASB-SEG “has taken the position that the underlying suits allege bodily injuries caused by only one ‘occurrence’ in an effort to cap its total liability under the policy at one set of limits in the total amount of $5 million”.
On Tuesday, Oxford’s Board of Education authorized filing the lawsuit against MASB-SEG, according to board President Erin Reis.
“We hope resolving this matter will also enable the district to resolve the lawsuits in the near future, allowing the community to continue the process of healing and taking our next steps,” Reis said at the meeting.
In the fall of 2023 confidential mediations began seeking a resolution to all claims, but no outcome was reached.
“The mediations failed in part because (the) insurer was unwilling to negotiate above a single ‘occurrence’ primary and excess policy limit and would not reconsider its coverage position,” the suit said. “Accordingly, Oxford has been left with no choice but to file this action.”
According to the suit, the
ambiguous interpretation of “occurrence” as written in the policy opens the door to Oxford’s definition of the incident — injuries to each individual are covered as separate “occurrences”.
“Insurer’s ‘single occurrence’ position has hampered Oxford’s ability to move forward with potential settlement negotiations,” the suit said.
Ven Johnson, the attorney for the families involved in several of the lawsuits, said the interpretation of events by the district is reasonable.
“Every bullet he (the shooter) fired, every person that he injured and/or killed, you could certainly take the position that it is a separate occurrence,” said Johnson. “Here, the definition in the insurance contract of “occurrence” is not clear and unambiguous as it pertains to the facts and circumstances involved here.”
The November 2021 incident at the high school killed four students — Hana St. Juliana, Tate Myre, Madisyn Baldwin and Justin Shilling — and injured seven others, including a teacher.
Multiple lawsuits allege the district failed to protect students. Oxford students and their families claim that the district created or increased the danger that the shooter presented to students and teachers at the high school.
The same insurance policy interpretation issue was brought up in 2022 by Scott Weidenfeller, attorney for 18 Oxford students who filed a class action lawsuit in the Southern Division of the Eastern District of Michigan.
“They (MASB-SEG) interpret the policy to mean that each individual who was shot or has PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), that those are not separate occurrences, but that it is all just one claim; the shooting itself was just an occurrence,” Weidenfeller explained. “The (insurance) carrier is saying there is a single amount for this entire class of people.”
That case is still pending. The case will be heard by Judge Jacob Cunningham.